New Manchester City signing Nico Gonzalez could make his debut for the club in this weekend's FA Cup tie at Leyton Orient.
City completed the £50million capture of the Spaniard on deadline day after striking a deal with Porto. Midfielder Gonzalez became the fourth addition of the January transfer window and could make his first appearance in the fourth round tie on Saturday (12.15pm).
Gonzalez arrived in Manchester this week and boss Pep Guardiola will provide an update on whether he feels the 23-year-old is ready to feature against League One side Orient when he faces the media on Friday lunch time. City will be heavy favourites to progress to the fifth round and the FA Cup represents the most viable chance of silverware for the Blues this season.
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City take on Real Madrid next week in the first leg of their Champions League play-off and Gonzalez could feature in that game provided he is added to the European squad. Guardiola and City have a decision to make with Gonzalez, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Omar Marmoush signed in the last month, while Claudio Echeverri will link up with the squad once he is finished representing Argentina a the South American Under-20 Championships.
City will only be able to register three out of these five, having not met the criteria to add any more; UEFA only allows four to be registered if more than five players in the squad for the group stage have left, and five additions if more than seven have left. It is not the case that the Blues would simply be able to exclude anyone from their existing squad to replace them with the new signings.
Speaking about his move to the Etihad, Gonzalez said: “I think this season I have started to arrive more into the area to score and assist many goals. I think I have also improved a lot in my intensity and I hope this will help me in the Premier League.
"I was raised in La Masia and since I was small, I always played a similar game and style to what Manchester City plays. Also, in Portugal I also tried to improve my play and the tempo of games which has made me a complete footballer. I hope the fans see a player that can play with the ball but also attack.”
