Name: Alpha Dionkou

Club: Manchester City

Date of Birth: 10 October 2001

Position: Right-back

Alpha Dionkou - his career so far

Alpha Dionkou has been a part of the Manchester City family for almost three years now but has quickly established himself as one of the biggest talents that could burst onto the scene sooner rather than later.

Before actually joining the Citizens in the summer of 2017, the all-action full-back has been plying his trade back in Spain, playing for Real Mallorca’s youth systems and quickly advancing through the ranks and impressing the right people.

Man City came knocking and the chance to play for one of the biggest teams on the planet was simply too big so the youngster snatched the opportunity and hasn’t looked back since. His stay in the academy at the Etihad has also been quite successful.

Dionkou went from strength to strength, clawing his way up the ladder and turning some heads along the way. So far, he is yet to make his official debut under Pep Guardiola but has been a prominent part of all the development squads in the younger ranks.

His stay with the U18s saw him play an impressive 30 games with two assists under his belt in the process as well. Similarly, he was part of the UEFA U19 squad that competed in the Youth Cup and he contributed with ten appearances but with no goals or assists to his name.

Currently, he is still registered with the U23s and has already made 35 appearances with two assists along the way too. As far as his senior exposure goes, however, he can only boast with being a part of the first-team squad during their pre-season tour and sitting on the bench in the Carabao Cup clashes against Preston North End and Oxford United in 2019/20.

Still, that doesn’t take anything away from his potential and if he is groomed and developed properly, he could end up featuring on the biggest stages sooner rather than later.

Transfer latest

The most important Manchester City news surrounding Dionkou is definitely his desire to impress Guardiola so that he can eventually get that shot at the first-team squad in the near future. So far it hasn’t really happened for the 18-year-old defender but he was agonisingly close on two occasions in 2019/20.

As far as the transfer rumours and transfer news are concerned, Dionkou hasn’t been linked with an exit from the club as of late. It does seem that his immediate future is still very much tied with the Citizens and they are more likely to count on him once the time is right than disregard his sheer potential.

After all, Guardiola is known for his work with the youngsters and the importance he gives to their proper development. With all of that in mind, it shouldn’t be long until Dionkou is knocking on the door once again.

Player profile

Dionkou seems like a very well rounded full-back who’s almost equally good when going forward and when staying back to defend. He’s got enough pace to burst behind the opposition’s line and also the technique to link up with his teammates higher up the pitch to outplay the defenders along the way.

Once he does reach the final third, the right-back usually likes to deploy crosses into the box and is quite good at them as well. The fact that he has the physical attributes to power across the pitch, shrug off defenders and exploit the space is a good sign for his future.

But while his tackling and aggression can be paired up for great results, he still has to work on his decision-making and good defensive positioning.