Sergio Gomez and Erling Haaland highlight Man City's new secret weapon in transfer negotiations

It sounds like Sergio Gomez didn't need too much persuading to join Manchester City.

In his opening interview as a Blue, he recalled how he inherited his support for City from his older brother, asking him to buy a shirt with 'Silva 21' when he visited London. Growing up as an attacking midfielder in Spain, it's easy to see why Gomez would look up to David Silva as a hero.

Gomez also talked about following in Silva's footsteps with the no.21 shirt himself, along with Ferran Torres who also wore the number, and his excitement at working with former City captain Vincent Kompany at Anderlecht. So when City unveiled Gomez alongside a picture of the left-back wearing a home shirt as a child, this wasn't just a gimmick.

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Just like when City unveiled Erling Haaland recreating the now-famous picture of him relaxing on a sofa in an old City top, Gomez's ties to City saw him descibe his transfer as a 'dream move', with Anderlecht saying they couldn't stand in the way of that dream.

Their CEO Peter Berbeke said: "Obviously, it is always our intention to keep good players with us over a longer period of time. But sometimes a player is confronted with a 'once in a lifetime opportunity', an opportunity that we don't want to deny him. Sergio's evolution is another example of how this club develops the talent of young players and can prepare them for the absolute top."

Some on social media will mock the likes of Haaland and Gomez for their previous support of City, but the fact is that a decade of success means that today's professionals will have been growing up when the Blues were starting to get going under Sheikh Mansour's ownership.

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