Overcoming insecurity made one player absolutely vital for Manchester City

Overcoming insecurity made one player absolutely vital for Manchester City

Manchester City signed Matheus Nunes from Wolverhampton Wanderers in August 2023. The Portuguese international was signed to add quality and cover to City’s midfield. However, Nunes failed to make an impact in Pep Guardiola’s side’s engine room. During the 2024-25 season, Nunes played on a wing and spent time at left-back with mixed results. Eventually, Matheus Nunes found himself at right-back and has now firmly established himself as an important player for his team. In a recent interview, Matheus Nunes described how he overcame his own insecurity to become an elite right-back. The success of Matheus Nunes in his new position is a testament to his mental strength and fortitude.

Matheus Nunes had to battle himself to become quality right-back.

In an interview with Sam Lee for The Athletic , Matheus Nunes has explained that originally he didn’t want to play at right-back. He shared the battle he underwent in his own mind before finally accepting the role that Pep Guardiola chose for him at Manchester City. Also, Nunes revealed that if he didn’t accept his new role, his opportunity to make an impact at Manchester City could have passed his by. He explained: “ I spoke to so many people. I have a psychologist. I spoke to my friends. I would tell my friends all the time, ‘I’m not a full-back, I’m not a full-back’. And they would always say, ‘No, but you play so good there. You play so good’. ”

“ The team-mates, Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias, were so annoying all the time as well. They were in my head constantly. ‘You were good there, you were good there. You need to accept it’. And I was like, ‘No, no, no, no, no, no, no’. All the time. ”

“ But yeah, at a certain point, you just have to see what the people are saying. You can’t be denying it for the rest of your life. If you do, maybe you miss your chance. And if I did that, I would have missed it. ”

By embracing change, Matheus Nunes solved a big problem for Manchester City.

When Kyle Walker’s powers finally waned during the middle of the 2024-25 season, Manchester City did need a right-back. The expectation at the time was that City would be forced to go to the transfer market to replace one of, if not the, best right-backs in Premier League history. However, Matheus Nunes slowly rose to prominence playing at right-back during the latter stages of the 2024-25 season. Nunes made the position his own last season when he was one of Manchester City’s most consistent player during the 2025-26 season.

To get to the point that he is now, Matheus Nunes had to embrace change. Pep Guardiola saw something in Nunes which made him perfect for the right-back role in his squad. While it was Pep Guardiola’s eye that spotted the potential of Nunes at right-back, Matheus Nunes had to embrace the change to make it all work. The Portuguese international did that and now his standing in the Manchester City squad is secure.

Matheus Nunes has become the ideal right-back for Manchester City. His pace, ability to get forward on the overlap or invert into midfield, plus his defensive ability, have made him a vital player for his team. To get to that point, Matheus Nunes had to overcome his own insecurity about playing in a new role. It is a credit to the Portuguese international that he won that battle and it is now hard to picture Enzo Maresca’s side without Nunes at right-back.

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