For a lot of Wolves fans, the sale of Rayan Ait-Nouri to Manchester City is still a sore one.
The Algerian departed Molineux a few weeks ago to sign for City in a transfer deal worth around £36 million.
Fans slammed Ait-Nouri’s sale feeling it was too cheap, and on his debut at the Club World Cup against Al Ain, Ait-Nouri really shone.
Wolves’ sale of Ait-Nouri could haunt the club for years – undoubtedly, he is worth more than £36 million and the club’s sale is difficult to understand, unless there was some kind of gentleman’s agreement that Wolves had with the player.
Wanderers fans will now watch Rayan Ait-Nouri from afar, and everything points to him being a success with City.
But last night, City suffered a shock defeat at the Club World Cup to Al-Hilal – which saw Ruben Neves get one over on Ait-Nouri.
And some fans were saying something about Ait-Nouri that won’t surprise Wolves supporters too much.
Man City fans question Rayan Ait-Nouri defending in third appearance since leaving Wolves
Ait-Nouri’s technical ability is very special.
He would often wow Wolves fans with his quick feet and dribbling, and his ability to play in the small spaces was undoubtedly a reason Pep Guardiola ordered a move for him.
But for a lot of Wolves fans, there was always one side of Ait-Nouri’s game that needed work, and that was his defending.
Although he’s improved a lot in that area in recent times, Ait-Nouri still has a lot of improvements to make.
And against Al-Hilal last night, some City fans became aware of this.
@Konkos001: “Ait-Nouri is good going forward but very poor defensively.”
@GrantHo16890702: “Defensively also a problem so I’m not worried. Said Ait-Nouri is a liability defensively and he’s shown exactly that.”
@1894_ManCity: “Still some positives to take from the CWC Cherki and Reijnders look like excellent additions to the squad. Ait-Nouri looks like a brilliant asset going forward, but definitely question marks about him defensively.”
@Ykottsu: “Ait-Nouri in a back 4 isn’t it man, we’re terrible defensively.”
- READ MORE: ‘Send an extra £100m to Wolves’… Man City fans make their thoughts on Rayan Ait-Nouri’s debut clear
Ait-Nouri still years from his peak
This verdict will come as no surprise to Wolves fans, who often saw him get caught out defensively.
At this stage of his career, he is amazing going forward and excels playing as a wing-back which takes away some responsibility going back.
But there is still work for him to do on the defensive side, and it will be very interesting to see the rate of his improvement on this at City, since they play a different system to Wolves.
But Ait-Nouri is still years away from his peak, and by the time he gets there he could easily be a solid defender.
Despite some questioning his defensive capabilities last night, it’s worth noting that he did really catch the eye again going forward.
One suspects that will happen quite a lot, but it’s just about whether he can get the defensive side of his game to a similar level.