Nedum Onuoha has said that one fringe player at Manchester City would be a regular starter for a lot of teams in the Premier League.
While the Manchester club have the joint-smallest squad in the Premier League with just 22 players in Pep Guardiola’s ranks, not everyone gets the chance to play regularly in the team.
Despite that, one figure in the City squad who doesn’t usually get to be a regular name in the starting XI has found himself on the end of some big praise from someone who knows the club very well.
Onuoha says Man City fringe player would star for most Premier League clubs
Speaking in a recent edition of Planet Premier League, Onuoha had this to say when asked if it could be a problem if Ederson ends up missing the rest of the season as a result of the injury he picked up during City’s recent 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest.
He said: “It’s not a massive deal, for me, to be honest.
“I think [Stefan] Ortega is a really good second ‘keeper, really, really good.
“I think he would be playing around the league if he became available because he’s a good shot-stopper, good with his feet and the team doesn’t adjust the way they play based on him being there.
“He’s played in the FA Cup for them, he’s played in league games for them. He’s really good so it’s not a concern.”
Man City should offer Stefan Ortega a new deal
This season has seen Ortega feature in 17 games for the Blues across all competitions, keeping seven clean sheets in the process.
With seven Premier League appearances under his belt in this campaign, the German has faced 22 shots on target and made 16 saves, leaving him with a save percentage of 72.7%, which is higher than Ederson’s save percentage of 70.5%.
Recent weeks have seen the subject of Ortega’s future at City be the topic of speculation, with his current deal set to expire in the summer of 2025.
In our view, despite Onuoha’s claim that the goalkeeper would be able to get regular game time at a lot of other clubs in the Premier League, we feel that City should offer him a new deal as he’s proven to be a very useful figure to rely on in Ederson’s absence.