Man City rely on Jérémy Doku for chances, but now he wants to add goals

MANCHESTER, England — If things had played out differently for Jérémy Doku, he could have been walking out at Wembley in the FA Cup semifinal on Saturday (stream live at 12:15 p.m. on ESPN+ in the U.S.) in the colors of Southampton rather than Manchester City.

Battling relegation from the Premier League during the 2022-23 campaign, Southampton looked at signing the winger from Rennes in the January window as they scoured the market for players to help get them out of trouble. But an agreement never materialized and, six months later, the Belgium international was on his way to the Etihad Stadium in a deal worth more than £50 million.

“Maybe they [Southampton] were interested,” Doku tells ESPN. “There were teams that were interested, but there was never a conversation of me going there. I think that was not the right step for me to make at that point.”

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Doku suspects that the move he did eventually make had something to do with former City captain Vincent Kompany. Before joining Rennes in 2020, he came through the youth ranks at Anderlecht and his path crossed with Kompany, who left City in 2019 to take over as player-coach at the Belgian club where he started his career nearly two decades earlier.

The 23-year-old is fuzzy on the details, but he suspects City gave Kompany a call when they were looking to find a replacement for Riyad Mahrez late in the summer window in 2023.

“I remember in Anderlecht when we were speaking about City and everything, he [Kompany] always said that he sees me playing in a team like this,” Doku says. “At that point, I didn’t know. I didn’t see myself here because I had still some growth to do. But he always mentioned it to me, and so I don’t think it’s a coincidence I’m here.”

With Doku now a key part of a City team targeting a domestic treble, Pep Guardiola has “Agent Kompany” to thank. And any gratitude owed to the now-Bayern Munich boss will only grow if Doku realizes his own lofty ambitions.

Approaching the end of his third season in England, he’s now established at the Etihad Stadium. The next aim, he says, is to become one of the best wingers in the world, rivalling the likes of Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior and Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal.

Guardiola already believes the winger, who tops the Premier League charts for successful dribbles (64) this season, is among the best attackers in one-vs.-one situations because of his rapid pace and sharp movement. And Doku says the only City player who can rival his speed is defensive teammate Abdukodir Khusanov: “I think over 15 metres, I back myself. But maybe over 40, I think he will win.”

However, there is one area of his game Doku knows must improve if he wants to raise his level to that of Vinícius and Yamal. “A winger needs to score,” he adds. “If I have those goals then I believe that I can get there for sure. 100%.”

Doku’s goal return at City is modest for a player of his ability. In 83 Premier League appearances, he’s found the net just eight times — and that becomes 18 in 124 appearances when you add in Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

Vinícius has got 18 goals this season alone; Yamal is on 24. Meanwhile, City teammate Antoine Semenyo, who signed from Bournemouth in January, is third in the Premier League’s Golden Boot race with 15.

“I feel like [with] assists, I’m fine,” Doku says. “I feel that I’m doing well in that area, because that doesn’t always depend on you … [But] I have to be more in the areas where you can score easy goals, you know, tap-ins and stuff like that.

“Sometimes in the game, you get … not distracted … but you don’t realize sometimes what you’re doing; you don’t realize that you’re not in that position where you should be to just score the easy goals.

“When I look at all my goals, even this season, every time [it is from] dribbles, every time when I do it myself. I just want to score also, I don’t know, even five tap-ins a season, that makes a big difference.”

Guardiola has his doubts. After Doku scored against Liverpool in November — one of only two league goals this season — the City boss admitted: “I think he will never be a top scorer, to be honest.” But the manager also knows the damage Doku can do down the left and after the same game, Liverpool boss Arne Slot described him as “unstoppable.”

In the Bernabéu in March, Real Madrid had to deploy two defenders to mark him in the Champions League quarterfinals. It was a tactic which helped Madrid take control of the game and the tie.

Against Burnley at Turf Moor on Wednesday, it was Doku who got the crucial assist for Erling Haaland in a narrow, nervy 1-0 win that lifted City to the top of the Premier League table for the first time since August.

“I feel like if I have goals, we are talking about a different conversation,” he says. “You should ask defenders what they think. What do they think? But I’m sure that they would say that, obviously if I score goals, this is a different conversation that we have.

“You see when I play now, there’s most of the time two defenders on me, which is not a problem because that means another player is free. But I know one-vs.-one, obviously that’s my biggest quality. I’m not going to hide behind it. That’s my biggest quality and that’s my talent. But for sure, goals need to come as well.”

For now, Doku is happy playing his part in the push towards the title. He describes the Carabao Cup final win over Arsenal in March as “a mental punch” and since then the form of the two teams could not be more different. For City, it’s four wins from four; Arsenal, meanwhile, have won just once in their last five games.

On Saturday, attention turns to the FA Cup and the chance for City to reach a record fourth-consecutive final.

“We’re in a good flow,” Doku says. “We confident and we’re hungry. We know there’s still a lot to play for and I think that’s what drives us.”