Manchester City were left flailing when Vincent Kompany told them in 2019 he would be leaving. City were still not set on a Kompany replacement in the summer of 2020, and after strong interest in Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly, a 5-2 humbling at the hands of Leicester prompted them to snap up Ruben Dias – a defender available for less after Benfica’s unexpected exit from the Champions League in qualifying. Dias had been picked as the man to fill those enormous boots from Kompany.
Pep Guardiola said: “He is the type of player similar to Vinny, where it is not about how he plays himself. Ruben is not just playing his game, he is playing the game for everyone. He has the ability to see and solve problems for many, many things. His character is so important. When you talk about tactics, he is incredible, his leadership is huge – especially even when he doesn’t play. You should see the impact he makes before the game, at half time, and after the game, and when he doesn’t play, game by game by game. He behaves the same when he doesn’t play, and that makes you deserve to be captain or deserve to be chosen as captain. His character and leadership are really, really important. He never complains, has the same methodology and work ethic when playing and training, always arriving two hours before and leaving two hours after, nothing changes. He lives 24 hours for his profession. In moments, maybe my mistake or not, when I decide to need something specific, a movement or something that the opposition has, there are players which are maybe a little bit better, there is a tactical aspect, but he should play every single game. His mentality is top of the top, and that’s why he can play as a central defender in a top, top club like Manchester City.”
