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When Jeremy Doku arrived at Manchester City as a 21-year-old in August 2023, his brief was to turn his promising displays at Rennes and for the Belgian national side into sustained performances for one of the planet’s elite sides.
That £55million move was made with both excitement and expectation in equal measure, not least on the part of the player himself, who wanted to be reassured that he would not become a mere squad option in Manchester City’s star-packed side that had just won their historic treble.
Doku’s successful debut campaign at the Etihad would allay any fears either party may have had about the move and underlined just why Pep Guardiola was so keen to bring him to Manchester.
Doku on his Manchester City switch
Doku’s move came eight months after the 2022 World Cup, a tournament in which the winger’s involvement was minimal following a series of injury issues that had derailed his progress at Rennes, who he had joined in 2020.
With his form and fitness coming back over the second half of the 2022/23 campaign, City had to see off West Ham to land the former Anderlecht youth product’s signature, with the recently departed Guardiola City’s trump card.
“I had a good season at Rennes and City were interested, although my club didn’t really want to let me leave,” Doku tells FourFourTwo.
“I had a good relationship with the sporting director, though, and he told me that if City committed to a good amount, they’d let me leave, and that was what happened. I spoke with Pep and obviously you don’t need a lot of convincing to go to City.”
Even at the age of 21, Doku was mature enough to ask questions about the potential move. “I wanted to play, and I wanted to be sure that if I joined City, would I just be there to be there, or do they really count on me?” he continues. “But he showed his interest in me, which made me comfortable signing.
“I had a trajectory in my mind when I was at Anderlecht: go from there to a team in the middle who would bring me to the top – then, City had just won the Treble, so there was no team more at the top than that!
“That was my goal and it worked out, but I’m not the one directing my plan. It’s directed from above – I’m just living it.”
Doku needed just eight appearances to tie a Premier League record – the most assists in a single match, setting up four and scoring another in a 6-1 win over Bournemouth.
“Like with Belgium, I wanted to prove in that first season that I belonged here, that I wasn’t an impostor,” he continues. “That game against Bournemouth was very good – some days, everything just works. I’ve had some games where I’ve played better, but you play a pass and somebody doesn’t score.
“That was a game where every pass I gave, someone scored, and I ended with four assists and one goal.”
