Jeremy Doku Commits to Manchester City Until 2031
Jeremy Doku has become the latest pillar of Manchester City’s new era, committing his future to the club with a long-term contract that runs until 2031.
The Belgium winger, signed from Rennes for £55.4m in 2023, has agreed an extension that City sources say will be confirmed next week. At 24, he is being locked in for his prime years at the Etihad Stadium.
Doku made 48 appearances last season, scoring eight goals and injecting the kind of direct, high-tempo threat that shredded defences and suited Pep Guardiola’s final campaign. He finished the year with both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup medals in his pocket, a double that underlined his importance in a side undergoing subtle but significant change.
He is not alone in pledging himself to the project. Phil Foden, Josko Gvardiol and Abdukodir Khusanov have all signed new deals this summer, a quartet of renewals that gives City’s next manager, Enzo Maresca, a young, committed core to build around.
Gonzalez fights for his place
If Doku’s status feels secure, Nico Gonzalez is still having to argue his case.
The midfielder arrived from Porto for £50m last January, a marquee signing expected to slide straight into City’s rhythm. Instead, his first full season brought 41 appearances across all competitions, a campaign of flashes rather than continuity.
One of those flashes was spectacular. Gonzalez delivered a stunning winner in the FA Cup semi-final against Southampton, a reminder of the technical quality that persuaded City to spend big. Yet he drifted in and out of the starting XI, never quite nailing down a permanent role.
Pre-season has brought another audition. Gonzalez has featured in both friendlies so far, against Inter Milan and a K-League XI, and talk has swirled that he could be moved on barely 19 months after arriving.
He is having none of it.
"I'm happy here," he said when asked about his future. "I don't want to leave and I think the club wants me to stay. I haven't seen anything but I'm happy here.
"When I play I think I do a really good job. A good example was the semi-final of the FA Cup when I did a good match. Every chance I got, I tried my best.
"The final of the FA Cup I was out but we won so it was an amazing day for me. If we win, I'm happy. My dream is to win trophies.
"If I don't play any matches and we win the Champions League next year, I will be so happy."
It is the voice of a player who knows he is on the edge of the XI, but refuses to step aside.
One huge signing, plenty of questions
For all the contract extensions, City’s summer business in the market has been notably restrained.
Approaching the second week of August, only one senior signing looks set to walk straight into Maresca’s first team: Elliot Anderson. The England international has arrived from Nottingham Forest for a club-record £116m fee, a deal that underlines both his pedigree and the scale of the hole left by Bernardo Silva’s departure to Real Madrid at the end of his contract.
Anderson is expected to assume much of that creative burden. City are betting heavily that he can.
Around him, the recruitment has been quieter and more developmental. Teenage winger Jeremy Monga has come in from Leicester and is likely to start in the academy setup. Goalkeeper Pierce Charles and winger Mathys Detourbet have both been signed and immediately sent out on loan, moves that speak to long-term planning rather than instant impact.
Maresca, speaking from South Korea where City are on their pre-season tour, did not hide the fact that more is needed. He confirmed that director of football Hugo Viana and chief executive Ferran Soriano had flown out to join the camp and admitted bluntly: "we need to something" in the market.
Inside the club, there is an acceptance that the window has not unfolded with the speed they wanted. Yet the mood at the top remains calm. Senior figures insist they are "relaxed" and retain full "trust" in their strategy.
They point to the winter window as proof of planning rather than drift. Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi, both long-term targets, were signed in January in deals originally mapped out for this summer. Both have already made a positive impact, easing some of the urgency now.
The squad is younger, livelier, and already battle-tested. It delivered both domestic cups last season and now welcomes back 20-year-old Brazilian Vitor Reis from a season-long loan at Girona, with expectations that he will step into the first-team picture.
Rodri, Reijnders and the transfer tightrope
The calm at board level does not mean the situation is static.
Rodri, the midfield anchor around whom City’s recent dominance has been built, has yet to sign a new contract. Interest from Real Madrid and Barcelona is growing. His future is not an immediate crisis, but it is a live issue that could reshape City’s long-term planning.
Tijjani Reijnders looks closer to the exit. The midfielder is likely to leave, with Nottingham Forest among the clubs monitoring his situation. Out wide, Savinho remains open to a move, with Tottenham having explored a deal, though nothing concrete has followed.
City’s stance is clear: if players go, replacements will come. This is not a summer for trimming without reinforcing.
Targets are already in focus. There is interest in Chelsea’s Pedro Neto, a winger whose direct running would fit neatly into Maresca’s attacking blueprint. Talks continue for Lille’s Moroccan midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi and Marseille goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli, as City quietly work through a list that blends now with next.
For all the outside noise about a slow window, there is no sense of panic inside the Etihad. Doku’s new deal, the renewal of Foden, Gvardiol and Khusanov, the record move for Anderson and the steady drip of youth signings all point in one direction.
City are not tearing anything up. They are tightening the screws on a squad they believe is already good enough to compete on every front.
The question is not whether they are ready for the season. It is whether the rest of Europe is ready for what this younger, sharper version of City might become.
