Manchester City look to have found another center-back option who impressed against Brighton

It has been a whirlwind week for Max Alleyne. After Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias went down injured, Manchester City recalled the young centre-back from his loan spell at Watford. From there, Alleyne made his first team debut for City in their 1-all draw with Brighton at the Etihad last night. While the result last night was disappointing, Max Alleyne’s performance at center-back was full of promise. Perhaps City have discovered another viable option to play at centre-back.

In his first start for Manchester City, Max Alleyne looked right at home.

Max Alleyne barely had time to train with his City teammates ahead of last night’s match against Brighton. But he has grown up in the Manchester City academy since he arrived at the club as a fifteen-year-old from Southampton. So while Alleyne wouldn’t have been familiar with his teammates, he did have an understanding of how Pep Guardiola wants his team to play. That stood out when Max Alleyne was in possession last night.

Alleyne completed 77/83 passes last night (statistics sourced from SofaScore) and he looked calm and composed on the ball. What I liked is that Alleyne never looked flustered at any point while in possession and he does have the makings of a quality ball-playing defender. His passing stood out as he looked right at home playing in the Manchester City defence.

Defensively, Max Alleyne more than held his own. Brighton aren’t a physical team per se, but they do have quick and technical players up front. In the early stages of last night’s match, Alleyne did look nervous. That was to be expected. But once the young centre-back settled into last night’s match, his defensive acumen and physical attributes stood out. Alleyne won 6/7 duels and won 3/3 aerial duels. He also completed three tackles and made four interceptions. Alleyne’s defensive performance was impressive, especially for a player who was thrown straight into the deep end last night.

Although Brighton did have their moments going forward during last night’s match, Max Alleyne, alongside Abdukodir Khusanov, did help keep out the Seagulls outside of Kaoru Mitoma’s equalizer and a few other occasions.

Max Alleyne looks to have a role in the City defence for this season and likely beyond.

With Josko Gvardiol, John Stones and Ruben Dias all injured, Pep Guardiola’s squad does need another centre-back. Nathan Ake and Abdukodir Khusanov are the only recognised fit centre-backs in the City squad. Max Alleyne returned from his loan spell at Watford and the expectation was that he would be a squad player. But last night he showed in his Premier League debut that can be a lot more than that. Alleyne looked comfortable playing in the Premier League and for Manchester City.

If Alleyne can build on his performance last night City may have found another quality centre-back option which would be a massive positive to arise from their current injured predicament if that is what transpires with Max Alleyne across the remainder of this season.