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Manchester City left-back Sergio Gomez has expressed his desire to fight for his place in Pep Guardiola‘s side despite reported interest from Burnley.
The 22-year-old arrived at the Etihad Stadium last summer from Anderlecht, with the Citizens opting to spend around £11m on the Spaniard following the departure of Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal.
However, Gomez was a peripheral figure in Guardiola’s first-team squad during the 2022-23 campaign and started only 10 of his 23 appearances across all competitions.
Gomez started just two of his 12 Premier League appearances, both of which came against Chelsea and Brentford in May, while he started four Champions League group-stage games as well as two matches in both the FA Cup and League Cup.
City’s No.21, who can also operate in midfield or on the wing, initially acted as cover to Joao Cancelo during the first half of the season, but the Portuguese’s loan exit to Bayern Munich coincided with Guardiola’s decision to switch to a unique back-three system, with Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji and Aymeric Laporte all preferred on the left side of defence.
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Gomez still has three years remaining on his contract at the Etihad, but it remains to be seen how the youngster will fit into Guardiola’s system going forward.
According to journalist Sacha Tavolieri, newly-promoted Burnley have made contact with Man City over a proposed loan deal to sign Gomez.
Clarets head coach Vincent Kompany, a Man City legend, is familiar with Gomez after coaching the Spaniard during his time in charge of Anderlecht.
However, Gomez has revealed that he would prefer to stay with the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League winners and fight for his place under Guardiola.
Speaking in an interview with AS, as quoted bySport Witness, Gomez said: “I haven’t talked to [Guardiola] about the next season, but I want to stay there.
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“I’m going to go from the first day of the pre-season with a lot of desire to show him that I can have more minutes.”
Gomez, who is currently on international duty with Spain at the 2023 European Under-21 Championship, added “The idea is to stay there. It is my wish.”
First-team opportunities for the left-back could be hindered further, though, should Man City win the race to sign highly-rated RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol, who is believed to be one of Guardiola’s top summer transfer targets.
The Citizens are allegedly making positive progress in talks to sign the 21-year-old Croatia international, and it is thought that a big-money opening offer will be tabled soon.
Man City are also said to be advancing in their pursuit of Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic and the treble winners are hoping to finalise a deal for the 29-year-old before the end of this month.
