Doku has surprised us at City–Guardiola

After scoring a goal and making four assists in Manchester City’s 6-1 thrashing of Bournemouth in Saturday’s Premier League game, City manager Pep Guardiola says Jeremy Doku has surprised him and others at the Ethihad Stadium.
Doku was brought as a replace for Riyad Mahrez and the outgoing Cole Palmer, City paid £55m for the relatively unknown winger. After a ‘shy’ performance against Fulham, according to Guardiola, Doku has quickly become a fans’ favourite with his direct style.
Performances against West Ham, RB Leipzig and now Bournemouth – where he registered a goal and four assists on Saturday – have seen Doku receive plenty of praise in his early City career, and Guardiola admits the impact has surprised figures at the club.
“He has surprised all of us, ” Guardiola said. “He reads every action what he has to do and his quality close to the box. We always talk about that to try and dribble and go because it is difficult to find a player today with the ability to dribble in small spaces.
“It’s incredible how he can change the rhythm in five metres but when he is not able to do that he is able to take good decisions and I’m impressed with that. He’s just 21. Txiki [Begiristain] made an incredible action to bring him here. I think he’s happy and hopefully he can be here for many, many years.”
With some signings taking as long as a year to adapt to Guardiola’s demands, or even longer, it’s impressive that Doku has begun life at the Etihad so well. “I had expectations about him,” Guardiola said, admitting he did not expect such an impact so soon.
“Normally we play against teams set so deep, that’s why we need players in small spaces with ability and he has that. Apart from that, he can receive the ball, set the ball, the action for the last goal for Bernardo [Silva] he had the vision so he’s a good football player. It’s difficult to find in world football players who can dribble because managers say don’t lose the ball.
“I don’t like people to dribble 60m but on the 18-yard box take a risk. They know they have all the freedom in that area to take the decisions they have to take and mainly he takes the right decisions.”