Jeremy Doku Signs Long-Term Contract with Manchester City

Jeremy Doku has become the latest pillar of Manchester City’s new era, committing his future to the club with a long-term contract that runs until 2031.

The Belgium winger, signed from Rennes for £55.4m in 2023, is understood to have agreed the extension with an official announcement due next week. At 24, and fresh from a season in which he played 48 games, scored eight goals and helped City lift both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup in Pep Guardiola’s farewell campaign, he now looks central to what comes next at the Etihad.

He is not alone. Doku is the fourth key figure to sign on again this summer, following Phil Foden, Josko Gvardiol and Abdukodir Khusanov in committing to new terms. City’s spine is being locked down for the long haul, even as the club reshapes itself under Enzo Maresca.

Gonzalez fights for his place

If Doku’s trajectory feels upward and assured, Nico Gonzalez’s path has been more jagged.

The midfielder arrived from Porto for £50m last January, a statement signing who was expected to command a regular place. Instead, his first full season became a stop-start battle for rhythm. He still played 41 times in all competitions and delivered one of the moments of City’s year – a stunning winner in the FA Cup semi-final against Southampton – but he never truly nailed down a permanent role.

This pre-season, he has featured in both friendlies, against Inter Milan and a K-League XI, and the speculation has followed him. After just 19 months at the club, whispers grew that City might cash in.

Gonzalez has pushed those rumours away.

"I'm happy here," he said when asked about his future. "I don't want to leave and I think the club wants me to stay. I haven't seen anything but I'm happy here.

"When I play I think I do a really good job. A good example was the semi-final of the FA Cup when I did a good match. Every chance I got, I tried my best.

"The final of the FA Cup I was out but we won so it was an amazing day for me. If we win, I'm happy. My dream is to win trophies.

"If I don't play any matches and we win the Champions League next year, I will be so happy."

It is the voice of a player desperate to be part of the project, even if he is not guaranteed a starting shirt.

Quiet window, big statement

For a club used to shaping summers, City’s transfer window has been curiously subdued.

Approaching the second week of August, only one signing is expected to walk straight into Maresca’s first XI: Elliot Anderson. The England international has arrived from Nottingham Forest for a club-record £116m, a fee that underlines both his importance and the hole he is being asked to fill after Bernardo Silva’s free transfer to Real Madrid.

Teenage winger Jeremy Monga has come in from Leicester and is likely to be eased through the academy system. Goalkeeper Pierce Charles and winger Mathys Detourbet have already gone straight out on loan, moves that speak to planning for tomorrow rather than patching up today.

Maresca, speaking on Tuesday, made no attempt to hide the need for more. He confirmed that director of football Hugo Viana and chief executive Ferran Soriano had flown to South Korea, where City are based for pre-season, and admitted bluntly: "we need to something" in the market.

Even so, those inside the Etihad are preaching calm. Senior figures describe themselves as "relaxed" and insist they have full "trust" in their transfer strategy. They point to the business done early: Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi, both long-term targets, were brought in during January rather than this summer, and have already made a positive impact.

This, they argue, is why the club does not feel the same urgency as others scrambling late in the window.

A young core, big decisions

What City do have is a squad that feels fresh and ambitious. Internally it is described as "young" and "exciting", a group that already delivered both domestic cups last season and now adds more potential.

Vitor Reis, the 20-year-old Brazilian defender, returns from a season-long loan at Girona and is expected to step into the first-team picture. Doku, Foden, Gvardiol and others are entering their prime years together. Anderson arrives to knit into that core.

The stability of that vision, though, will be tested by what happens next with some major names.

Rodri, the midfield metronome who has not yet signed a new contract, is drawing attention from Real Madrid and Barcelona. His situation looms over everything City are building. Lose him, and the entire shape of Maresca’s side changes overnight.

Tijjani Reijnders is likely to leave, with Nottingham Forest among the clubs interested. Winger Savinho, as reported last month, is open to an exit and has been monitored by Tottenham, but nothing concrete has emerged.

City’s stance is clear: if someone goes, someone comes in. The plan, as it stands, is like-for-like replacement rather than a radical tear-down.

Targets have already been identified. There is interest in Chelsea’s Pedro Neto, while talks continue over Lille’s Moroccan midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi and Marseille goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli. None of those deals is done yet, but the framework is in place.

For now, the mood at the Etihad remains strikingly composed. Contracts are being signed, not broken. The squad is being trimmed, not torn apart. The window has been quiet, but the direction is loud enough.

Doku’s new deal underlines it: City are not just defending what they were under Guardiola. They are betting heavily on what this young, evolving group can become under Maresca – with the clock ticking on some huge decisions before the window shuts.