Manchester City have signed Richard Dionkou from Real Mallorca, beating off competition from Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid for the teenager
Spanish publication Diario De Mallorca have reported that Manchester City have agreed a deal to sign prodigious 16-year-old right-back Richard Dionkou from Real Mallorca. The Senegal-born wonderkid was reportedly being tailed by Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid before City snapped him up.
The report states that Manchester City and Real Mallorca were engaged in extensive talks for a long time, and the Citizens closed the deal to sign Dionkou towards the end of January. And, of all the clubs that had been monitoring Dionkou, Atletico Madrid showed the most interest in the teenager, but the 16-year-old chose to move to Manchester instead.
The cherry on top of the cake is that Manchester City were able to sign Dionkou on a free transfer despite being contracted to Mallorca for two more seasons, but the Premier League heavyweights are expected to pay some compensation to the Segunda Division club.
#ManCity a bouclé l’arrivée d’Alpha Richard #Dionkou (16), jeune latéral de #Mallorca. Le joueur restera en Espagne jusqu’en juin pic.twitter.com/gVighR7lBx
— Team Mercato (@TeamMercato) February 8, 2017
Dionkou will continue playing for Mallorca’s junior side for the rest of the season before joining the Manchester City football academy at the start of next season, when he is expected to play for the club’s under-18 side, with the junior team one of the better performers in its division.
Dionkou is the latest player playing at Son Bibiloni to have sparked widespread interest in him, with some of the best scouts in the world regularly visiting the home of the Mallorca B team to monitor some of the most promising young players in Europe.
The 16-year-old right-back has been rising up the ranks at Real Mallorca, and has made an impression with his physical strength and power laying the foundation to build a solid defender, while his explosive pace potentially makes him a threat down the right flank in attack.
Dionkou’s addition to City’s academy ranks will be the latest in a long line of recruitments by one of the most productive youth setups in England, after the Citizens acquired 13-year-old defender Finley Burns from Southend United for £175,000 and Valencia’s 15-year-old striker Nabil Touaizi for £255,000.
The club’s under-18 side has been dominant in the league as well, and the team currently leads the table ahead of fierce city rivals Manchester United.
Dionkou has already shown a lot promise in his young career, and it now up to him to make his undoubted potential count. With Pep Guardiola showing an inclination towards incorporating talented young players in his first team setup, Dionkou will have the motivation to work on his game and progress rapidly through the ranks to become the club’s long-term right-back solution.
