Manchester City supporters have been making a lot of noise in recent times after seeing their side return to winning ways in the Premier League on Sunday to resurrect their title challenge.
Pep Guardiola’s men went into their meeting with Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium off the back of a surprise 2-1 loss at the hands of Newcastle United in their previous league outing, a result which saw them slip five points behind leaders Liverpool in the race for the title. Yet that gap now stands at just three as a Sergio Aguero hat-trick inspired the Citizens to a 3-1 success over the Gunners on Sunday, which coupled with Liverpool’s draw at West Ham on Monday night leaves Guardiola’s side with the chance to go top when they play Everton on Wednesday.
Thus, there have been many delighted City fans up and down the country in recent times, yet one man who is unlikely to be too pleased at present is former Citizens goalkeeper Angus Gunn, who swapped the North West for Southampton in the summer for a deal worth £10.17 million (as per Transfermarkt).
But with the Englishman having failed to dispose Alex McCarthy as the club’s number one shot-stopper under both Mark Hughes and now Ralph Hasenhuttl, things haven’t exactly worked out for him at St Mary’s just yet – and for the money they paid, it seems pretty clear that Man City are so far the main and perhaps only beneficiaries from that deal.
Ultimately, Gunn made the move to City back in 2011 after beginning his career at Norwich City, what with the Citizens paying £250,000 (as per The Eastern Daily Press) for the goalkeeper following a tribunal – remarkably though, he never actually featured in the City first team.
Instead, the young Englishman made his name on loan at boyhood club Norwich during the 2017/18 season in appearing in all 46 of their Championship matches under Daniel Farke, in which time Gunn kept 15 clean sheets and shipped only 60 goals as the Canaries finished 14th in the second tier, 15 points off the top six.
And that impressive spell at Carrow Road prompted struggling Southampton to spend big money on the 23-year-old in a bid to bolster their own goalkeeping ranks, which had taken something of a hit earlier in the season given Fraser Forster’s alarming decline in form.
Yet former City shot-stopper simply hasn’t been able to dispose McCarthy of the gloves in the first team with only one Premier League appearance to his name so far, which came in their 0-0 draw with Chelsea last month – other than that though, it has been cup football for the England Under-21 international.
Yes, he may well have proven his worth at times in those Carabao Cup and FA Cup clashes, but on the whole he has so far failed to become the undisputed number one on the South Coast – that tag certainly belongs to England international McCarthy.
But for City to earn a staggering £10.17 million, and thus a £9.92 million profit, for a player who never even played for them, and still hasn’t been able to earn the regular football he so likely craves, underlines what great business the Citizens pulled off last summer – in time, it may prove to be a shrewd investment from the Saints, but at the moment it is looking like £10.17 million that could have been better spent elsewhere.
In fact, given Gunn hasn’t been able to properly challenge McCarthy for the number one jersey, City appear to be the main and perhaps only beneficiaries of Southampton’s decision to sign the Englishman last year.
Man City and Southampton fans… what do you think? Let us know!
