Peter Schmeichel has named one Manchester City player as being the best signing in the Premier League this season.
The Citizens ended their latest top-flight campaign by lifting their sixth Premier League title in seven years and becoming the first side to win four in a row.
They also scored more goals (96) than any other side in the division, with Erling Haaland winning a consecutive Golden Boot after finding the back of the net 27 times in 31 league games.
With this latest season now over, one pundit and former City player has highlighted a particular figure in Pep Guardiola’s squad as being one of the standout signings of the season.
Peter Schmeichel says Josko Gvardiol has been the best signing of the season
In a recent article shared on the official Premier League website, numerous pundits were asked to name who they felt the best signing of the season was.
In response, Schmeichel had this to say.
He said: “Josko Gvardiol to Man City.”
Interestingly, out of the eight pundits who were asked, Schmeichel was the only one to say Gvardiol, with five saying Cole Palmer to Chelsea and two saying Declan Rice to Arsenal.
Gvardiol’s debut City season
In his debut Premier League campaign at the Etihad Stadium since joining from RB Leipzig in a deal worth £77m last summer, the defender started 26 of the 28 games he appeared in.
Across those league games, the Croatian racked up a higher combined total of tackles and interceptions (82) than any other defender in the City squad.
The £200k-a-week defender’s overall league performances earned him a season rating of 7.03/10 from WhoScored, making him the highest-rated defender at the Manchester club.
Even though Rice and Palmer may have got more votes than Gvardiol by this particular group of pundits for the best signing of the season accolade, we feel that the fact that the 22-year-old managed to have such a strong season and win the league with no previous top-flight experience makes us agree with Schmeichel.