Insider information on the possible deal that put Man City ahead of Liverpool in the winger transfer

Johnson is in a good position to talk about Doku’s career trajectory because of his stellar performance with Rennes in Ligue 1. However, he has to confess that he was taken aback by the Belgium international’s summer transfer to Man City.

Doku had been connected to Liverpool, but Johnson believes that City may have been more interested when it became apparent that Riyad Mahrez could actually leave the Etihad Stadium, given the Algerian international’s somewhat unexpected summer departure to Saudi Arabia.

Doku has shown to be a good Mahrez substitute, but it’s possible that he might have contributed for Liverpool as well, given that they just made an investment in offensive additions like Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo.

“Jeremy Doku, who was long on the radar of elite European clubs, has had an excellent start to life at Manchester City following his summer transfer from Ligue 1 side Rennes. I must admit that after closely observing him in France, I’m a little taken aback by how rapidly Doku has adapted and established himself at City,” Johnson stated.

It was also somewhat of a surprise when City made the move to sign him, considering that Liverpool had been heavily linked to him for some time. However, a number of elite teams were monitoring Doku’s progress at Rennes, and maybe the somewhat unexpected departure of Riyad Mahrez from City effectively moved Doku up their priority list.

“Doku has always had a lot of talent, but even now, I’m amazed at how fast he’s adjusted to the tactical demands of a coach like Pep Guardiola as well as the demands of Premier League football.

Guardiola will likely concentrate on getting that out of him over the next three years. “It’s now just a question about him staying consistent, and I think there’ll also be a desire to improve his end-product slightly because then he could really be considered an elite player,” the coach said.