Pace, aggression and quicksilver trickery: Jérémy Doku is the nightmare for opposition defences who breaks video games open for Manchester City. In Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, Southampton’s job will be to attempt to comprise the Belgium winger who has raised his recreation this season.
The Liverpool head coach, Arne Slot, believes that Doku can be “unstoppable” and Arsenal’s Cristhian Mosquera found exactly this in City’s seismic 2-1 win in the Premier League on Sunday, the right-back booked for persistently fouling him at the Etihad Stadium. Yet the 23-year-old just isn’t content material. The ambition is to add goals to the glowing talent set he believes will elevate him above Vinícius Júnior as the world’s best large ahead.
Four strikes in 40 City appearances this time period is an under-par return for a footballer of his expertise, with Vinícius’s rely 18 in 48 video games for Real Madrid. Can he attain the Brazilian’s stage? “Of course,” Doku says. “I feel like if I have goals we are talking about a different conversation. Assists – I’m fine.
“I have to be more in the areas where you can score easy goals, tap-ins. When I look at my goals, even this season, every time they are with dribbles. I want to score even five tap-ins a-season – that would make a big difference. A winger needs to score. If I have those goals then I believe that I can get there to be the world’s best winger, for sure, 100%.”
So far Doku has 11 assists in all competitions, in comparison with 9 in every of his first two seasons at City, scoring six occasions in his debut 2023-24 marketing campaign, and eight final season, together with two at the Club World Cup. He started as a No 9.
“I was a striker when I was nine, 10 years old,” he says. “Then I became a winger from about 12. I liked to watch Neymar, [Lionel] Messi, [Franck] Ribéry, [Eden]Hazard, [Arjen] Robben, Ronaldinho. Then I created my own thing. I can’t do what they do and they don’t do what I do – I try to do my own thing with what my qualities are.”
His need to attain extra exhibits Doku’s readability about his recreation. Of his tempo, he says: “I’ve always been fast. My brother was fast, my dad, so it’s been in the family. I think [Abdukodir] Khusanov and I are the fastest in the squad. Over 15 metres, I back myself. But over maybe 40, he will win.”
Slot’s verdict on Doku got here after he tore Liverpool aside in City’s 4-0 FA Cup victory this month, his break down the left instrumental in Erling Haaland’s hat-trick purpose at the Etihad.
Another praise got here when Trent Alexander-Arnold appeared to mime Doku’s snake-hipped dribbling type as Real Madrid knocked City out of the Champions League in March. “I saw that video. It was a good battle against him,” he says.
“When I play now, most of the time there are two defenders on me, which is not a problem because that means another player is free. But I know one versus one, that’s my biggest quality.”
On Saturday he’ll hope to exhibit that and propel City to a fourth consecutive FA Cup ultimate. Should Pep Guardiola’s Premier League leaders knock out the Championship facet, Doku desires a unique end result to the defeats by Crystal Palace and Manchester United of their previous two finals.
“They stay on your mind, but I try to not shift my attention to the things I don’t have. I’m grateful for what I’ve won already. So being in the semi-final, I want to go back to the final and win that trophy. Because I won a Carabao Cup, I won the Premier League, so I want to win the FA Cup as well.”
Does it make him extra motivated to say the Cup? “A bit yes, no. Even if we won those finals, I would be motivated. Like I’m motivated right now to win the Premier League. Although I already won a Prem, I’m still motivated because you always want to win. It’s never enough, I would say.”
The Carabao Cup triumph – the 2-0 defeat of Arsenal – got here in March. On Wednesday, City ended the Gunners’ 200 consecutive days as the Premier League leaders with a 1-0 win at Burnley.
“We’ve already won a trophy and there’s still two trophies where we have everything in our hands. OK, we are out of the Champions League, but imagine we win those two trophies and have a domestic treble. So we’re happy. Nothing to complain about.”
