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Matheus Nunes has impressed in recent weeks at right back for Manchester City.
Matheus Nunes used to work in a bakery while juggling a burgeoning football career in Portugal's fifth tier. Now he's beginning to cook at Manchester City.
Nunes has emerged as first choice right back for City this season with Abdukodir Khusanov's injury, John Stones' versatility and Rico Lewis seemingly dropping down the pecking order meaning the 27-year-old Nunes is the frontrunner for a problem position.
City opted not to sign a right back in the summer window, having assessed the market following Kyle Walker's exit and deemed their in-house options sufficient given the calibre of player available and the squad spend elsewhere. Newcastle's Tino Livramento, capable of playing on both sides, was looked at, but once Rayan Ait-Nouri arrived that pursuit went cold.
City ultimately felt they were best placed to carry on with what they had. And while the position and players are still a work in progress, Nunes has started to find his feet.
He was poor in the defeat to Brighton in August but has improved steadily since and Pep Guardiola believes he can go on to become an 'incredible' right back.
Manager and player are in regular conversations about the position, with the City chief having deemed Nunes not good enough to command starts in the middle of midfield.
The former Sporting Lisbon man has taken the change on board, and has accepted Guardiola's challenge.
“It’s a question for him now," said Guardiola this month. “He can be an incredible right-back because he’s a holding midfielder with incredible physicality. As much as he’s focused, he can become one of the best.
"It’s just ‘change your mind’ and ‘feel’ that you can feel it, you have this special attribute to play in the sides."
Guardiola believes Nunes' physicality is a key attribute, perhaps even more so this term given the Premier League trend for set-pieces and long throws. The City boss values Nunes' desire to improve and his personality.
For his part, Nunes, who moved from Brazil to Portugal as a 13-year-old, has in the last few weeks seemed to grasp the position a little more. There have been improved defensive displays, better positional awareness and a greater understanding of the balance between defence and attack.
He was afforded the night off in midweek as City survived a Carabao Cup scare at Swansea, but is in line to return to the team for the Premier League visit of Bournemouth on Sunday.
Guardiola descried him as 'one of the best players in the world today' after City beat a Sporting side containing the midfielder 5-0 in the Champions League in 2022.
The challenge now is to earn that praise again in his new position.
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