Pep Guardiola hails Jeremy Doku as ‘special’ after the Man City boss explains why he chose the Belgian youngster over Jack Grealish for Chelsea clash
- Pep Guardiola has explained his decision to start Jeremy Doku against Chelsea
- Doku was preferred to Jack Grealish for the second consecutive league match
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Pep Guardiola explained he trusted his instinct after only deciding to start Jeremy Doku over Jack Grealish for Sunday’s Premier League clash against Chelsea on the morning of the match.
Doku started his second consecutive league match in place of Grealish at Stamford Bridge with the Belgian given the nod by Guardiola following his scintillating exploits against Bournemouth last weekend where he scored once and assisted four other goals.
Explaining the reason why Doku was again preferred to Grealish on the left-wing, Guardiola told Sky Sports: ‘I wake up today and say for Jeremy [to start[. It’s true, sometimes I rely on Jack [Grealish], Phil [Foden], Jeremy [Doku], Bernardo [Silva] on the outside.
‘I don’t have any doubts what they offer me or what they have offered the team for many years.
‘Jeremy is special in final third, he is a young player and now we have to see how he behaves in these stages, he has done it and other times played really good.’
Jeremy Doku was preferred on the left-wing for Man City against Chelsea on Sunday
Doku has become an increasingly prominent figure in City’s squad after only arriving at the reigning Premier League champions in the summer following a £55m transfer from French side Rennes.
His pace, trickery and dribbling has transformed Doku into one of the English top-flights most exciting young talents, with his skillset offering Guardiola a different attacking outlet.
Grealish, who was crucial to City’s Treble-winning success last season, offers a more creative attacking threat and usually drifts in from the wing while Doku prefers to stay wide.
The 21-year-old was grown in confidence in recent weeks following a purple patch of form and wasn’t afraid to promote his ambitions after being chosen to start against Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
Speaking pre-match, Doku said: ‘The opponent doesn’t matter, always on field have to give 100 per cent and be best Jeremy I can be.
‘Big game against Chelsea and I hope to show everyone why I belong here.’
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