Ait-Nouri a RAY of light

CITY MAY HAVE FOUND LEFT-BACK SOLUTION

- By SIMON BAJKOWSKI

T would have been very Typical City if Manchester City had finally signed a left-back after years of grumbling from fans and then didn’t play him.

It also would have been very Pep Guardiola to bring in a specialist and then stick another midfielder in the position instead.

And it was. When Rayan Ait-Nouri left for the Africa Cup of Nations in December, it didn’t look obvious when he would next play in the Premier League.

Nico O'Reilly had basically had the position locked down since September, and any chance Ait-Nouri had to show himself wasn't taken.

Having looked fine on his debut at his former club Wolves on the opening day of the season, Ait-Nouri quickly went downhill.

He came off injured 20 minutes into the dismal defeat against Spurs, came back for the dismal defeat against Brighton but was then injured for six weeks.

When he came back in October, his only starts before leaving for international duty two months later were the Carabao Cup game at Swansea and the Champions League game with Leverkusen.

He was substituted after an hour in South Wales with City drawing against the Championship side, and then taken off at halftime with Leverkusen ahead.

For all the fuss around African players not being released long before the international tournament started, Ait-Nouri barely got a kick while O'Reilly went from strength to strength.