Man City should’ve snubbed Enzo Fernandez and saved £86m on ‘next Steven Gerrard’

Brentford midfielder Mamadou Sangare has been the second-best player in the Premier League so far this season.

That is according to talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham, who has compared the Mali international to Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard.

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Sangare joined the Bees from Lens for £39million this summer after a standout debut campaign in France.

The 24-year-old was named Ligue 1’s African player of the year as well as being included in the team of the year.

Meanwhile, he lifted the French Cup alongside scoring three goals and providing four assists in 29 Ligue 1 appearances.

Sangare has carried his form into the Premier League, catching the eye for Brentford in their opening two matches.

‘Sangare is a Gerrard throwback’

Durham has already been impressed by his performances, believing only Manchester City’s Rayan Cherki has been better so far this term.

He hailed Sangare’s ability on the latest edition of talkSPORT Daily’s Fiery Fridays podcast alongside Alex Crook and Angelina Kelly.

Discussing the signing’s impact, Durham explained: “The second best player in the Premier League so far this season, and I appreciate it is early days, is the Brentford midfielder Mamadou Sangare.

“He came in from Lens in the summer, he was in the Ligue 1 team of the season last year, only cost £40million. In the current market, that is a snip.

“24-years-old so a good age, not too young, experienced enough, but still plenty of time left. Mali international, he’s good on the ball, he can tackle, get stuck in and he’s just got everything.

“Watching him in the first two games for Brentford, he is everywhere. The most dynamic midfielder I have seen in a long, long time. A little bit of a throwback Steven Gerrard-style.

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“In fact, I would say that we’ve gone down a bit of a cul-de-sac with midfielders in that they’re all stoppers, defensive midfielders and they cost a lot of money all of a sudden, but their numbers aren’t great.

“I think this guy is going to be that throwback to those midfielders that were all-rounders, basically did everything in the game. He’s sensational.”

Sangare already has an assist to his name from midfield after setting up Keane Lewis-Potter to score against Tottenham Hotspur on the opening weekend.

Brentford followed up that win with a draw at Leeds on Sunday to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.

City should have signed Sangare over Fernandez

Durham also believes City should have swooped for Sangare this summer instead of buying Enzo Fernandez.

Enzo Maresca’s side parted with a record-equalling £125million to sign the Argentina international from Chelsea on deadline day.

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The move represents a weakness shown by the Premier League’s bigger clubs in the transfer market, says Durham.

He added: “One thing that bugs me about some of the bigger clubs, particularly Man City, is they always seem to let other clubs buy players first and then they go and sign them.

“Which means they haven’t really scouted properly. They surely could have seen that that player could have done a job for them and cut out the middle man.

“Sangare is that player that a team like Man City should’ve looked at, should’ve seen.

“They’d have got him for £40million, wouldn’t have had to pay £125million for Enzo Fernandez, a waste of money and all the booing that’s going to come with that.”

Sangare has penned a five-year deal at the Gtech Community Stadium with the option of a further 12 months.

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As a result, he would likely cost a sizable fee next summer compared to the £39million paid by Brentford last month if he maintains his level of performance.

Fans will have another chance to see the dynamic midfielder in action at home to Sunderland on Saturday afternoon.

City’s midfield still inferior to Arsenal

talkSPORT’s Angelina Kelly argued that none of City’s new midfielders would get into the Arsenal starting XI.

She said: “Manchester City have spent over £300m on three new midfielders to try and catch Arsenal. None of them, in my opinion, would get into the Gunners’ midfield.

“City finished seven points behind Arsenal last season, three points behind them the year before.

“They’ve lost their World Cup and Ballon d’Or winner in Rodri to Barcelona. He would get into Arsenal’s midfield.

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“They spent £85m on Moroccan teenager Ayyoub Bouaddi. He’s got a lot of promise, but is still very young. Not realistic to think that he could start for Premier League champions week to week.

“They spent £116m on Elliot Anderson from Forest. Good player, but not as good as Declan Rice.

“As much as you could play the two of them together, I think we learned from the World Cup that Rice works better with more of a ball playing midfielder like Bruno Guimaraes or Martin Zubimendi.

“Anderson was okay at the World Cup, but still not really proven on that level.

“Then you’ve got record-equalling £125m on Enzo Fernandez. If it wasn’t for Manchester City buying him for more, the £106m that Chelsea spent on him would still look like a rip-off.

“Since he moved to the Premier League, Chelsea have finished 12th, 6th, 4th, 10th and have failed to beat Arsenal in that time period.

“In fact, in several of the matches he’s been dominated in midfield by Declan Rice. It was the 5-0 at the Emirates a few years ago that was particularly bad. Rice and Odegaard embarrassed him.

“So where would any of them fit in? None of them are getting near Rice. Bruno Guimaraes is tougher and better on the ball than all of them.

“Martin Odegaard looks fitter and he’s back in form now, so offers more in terms of creativity, leadership than any of those signings.

“Manchester City have to do the impossible job of replacing Rodri, but they’ve overpaid massively for those three. As things stand, their midfield doesn’t quite look good enough to compete.”