Well, as a Rennes fan, this is exciting. I've waited about 10 years for a Rennais to move to City. I never thought it would be Doku, honestly. Even when the rumours started appearing, I thought, "No way. He's nowhere near our usual profile, not a Pep player in the slightest."
But, here we are. On the verge of seeing him in sky blue.
I'm excited, but I do have my fears about this transfer. He has got a ton of raw talent. That much is obvious. But there is also a lot, and I do mean a LOT, of work to do for him to step up to our level. He can be extremely wasteful. Attacking moves can fizzle out into nothing when he makes the wrong decision. His shooting needs major improvement, and I do have my concerns about whether or not he can adapt to the way we play.
The reason we're so successful isn't necessarily our players. It's the system. It's Pep. And the players we buy have to buy into what Pep does. That means there's a very good chance that Jérémy will need to adjust his game enormously. If he puts his faith in Pep, and Pep returns the favour and gives him at least some freedom to use his dribbling and pace and play his natural game, we'll see fireworks on the pitch.
If not, if Doku doesn't quite get it or can't adapt, or if he's stifled a little too much by the system and not truly allowed to express himself, then I worry about how this could work out. Obviously, Pep knows infinitely more than me and I always trust in him to figure things out the right way, but I just hope that he'll continue to let Jérém be Jérém, at least to a certain extent. This isn't the kind of lad you want to see simply passing the ball backward. You want to see him bombing forward and taking people on.
He also has a nightmare of an injury record. And, this is a bit silly, but I personally always feel like there's a bit of a "curse" around Rennes players who leave the club. Sarr, Grosicki, and Diakhaby all got relegated. Doucouré nearly got relegated. Even Dembélé has had a crap time with injuries.
But that's the negatives out the way. The positives are that this is the kind of player that gets you out your seat. The Sane-type talent that many on here feel we've lacked for a while. A dynamo. A little buzzing jolt of magic lightning dashing about the pitch and dancing his way through defences. And with Haaland to feed and a world-class midfield and team around him, coupled with all of Pep's acumen and guidance, the sky is the limit for Doku at this moment in time. I think he must be absolutely buzzing at the prospect of playing with us. And I hope, two, three years from now, we'll be looking back and saying what an amazing signing this was and admiring how well the lad took his chance and became one of our most popular and exciting players.
He's a joy to watch on his day. I've complained in the past that "his day" doesn't come often enough, but he's still young, and with a much better team around him, and hopefully a good run of games and fitness, I'm sure the consistency will come. And, one more thing I can say for him is that he's a confident lad. Even when injuries and tough matches come and go, you can count on him to bounce back and keep on believing in himself to perform.
It's exciting. It's a transfer that really could go either way, for me. Could be an absolute masterstroke, or a bit of a damp squib. It's all up to Jérémy to decide which one, and I will be cheering for him as loudly as anyone else, maybe even a bit louder, every time he plays. I wish him the absolute best.
cityxtra.co.uk
