The promising £17.1m Man City target that could be the next João Cancelo

Reports in the Turkish media suggest that Manchester City’s scouts might be making some trips across the Bosphorous this season – apparently, they’re interested in signing Fenerbahçe full-back Ferdi Kadıoğlu, a 15-cap international who’s valued at around €20m (£17.1m).

Although predominantly right-footed, Kadıoğlu has spent most of this season operating at left-back, in an inverted supporting role not entirely dissimilar to the one that João Cancelo used to play so brilliantly before he was cast aside at the start of last season. The question is – can the 24-year-old Turk have a similar impact?

Kadıoğlu became a regular in the Fener starting eleven at the age of 20, having signed from Dutch club NEC Nijmegen, where the Netherlands-born defender started his career. He now has over 250 senior career appearances to his name and 27 goals – and he is most certainly capable of offering more in the final third than many full-backs.

He scores, on average, two and a half times as often as Cancelo has over the course of his career, and tees chances up for his team-mates at a slightly better rate as well. Not only is he composed in and around the area, he makes good decisions, and is excellent at finding space – using his very respectable turn of pace to make gaps between defenders and getting into dangerous areas to receive passes with regularity.

His underlying numbers bear up well when put next to Cancelo’s, as well – he makes more tackles at a better success rate, even if the Portuguese is responsible for more interceptions, his passing accuracy percentages are extremely similar and his ball-carrying skills hold up well too, beating his man in one-on-one situations at a similar rate to a player who was, in his pomp, considered one of the most important pieces in Pep Guardiola’s puzzle.

Of course, there is a massive caveat when comparing the statistics. Kadıoğlu has played his football in the top tiers of the Dutch and Turkish leagues, which is a very respectable standard but not at the same rarefied levels that Cancelo is used to playing at. So would he be able to play anything like Cancelo if he came to the Premier League?

There is some evidence that the answer may be yes. His adventures with the Turkish national team have mostly been impressive, and he has put in some very good performances against Croatia and Wales, hardly the weakest teams. His lone international goal so far came against Germany – and it was a brilliant goal which showcased so much of what he does well.

Haring down the left in and advanced position, he anticipated a possible long ball over the top, got the jump on Leroy Sané who was meant to be marking him, burned the former City forward for pace and then lashed the ball in with confidence at the near post. Turkey went on to record a surprise 3-2 victory away from home. It was a friendly, granted, but the point stands that when tested against tough teams, he tends to come up with the goods.

He also passes the eye test pretty comfortably. His first touch and the accuracy of his short passes seem to be at a level of which Guardiola would typically approve. His movement is first class and he seems to read the game well. He isn’t as sturdy in defence as some full-backs, but then Guardiola has never been shy of getting hold of defenders who are about technique and ball-playing skills first and foremost.

City aren’t the only team to notice his qualities, of course. Borussia Dortmund have been linked with a bid and there were reports that Arsenal were looking at him over the summer. The fee won’t be an issue for one of the world’s wealthiest clubs, but the question is whether he’s worth it, and whether City truly need him.

City have already invested heavily in Joško Gvardiol, and he seems to have become the default option on the left side of defence. The Croatian isn’t as dangerous in the final third as Kadıoğlu but is a better defender and his technical skills are unquestionable. Between Gvardiol and Nathan Aké, Guardiola appears to have set a paradigm for his left-back role which excludes an attacking, inverted wing-back. Regardless of Kadıoğlu's qualities, they may decide that he is not a player they really need.

Kadıoğlu could play on the right, of course, which is far from an unusual role for him. Kyle Walker is the first choice there but at 33 years of age, he is likely to wind down sooner or later, and in any case City were reported to be looking to offload him as recently as last summer. It’s possible that Guardiola and the City scouting staff see a player who can mirror a lot of what Walker does well in terms of pace, style and the ability to offer a passing option in attack. Whether Kadıoğlu could tuck Kylian Mbappé under his arm as Walker did in the Champions League a couple of years ago remains to be seen, admittedly.

You can see why City would look at their squad and decide that Kadıoğlu didn’t fill a hole that needed to be filled. But you can also see the qualities of a player that a very good team should probably take a punt on. Whether that’s City remains to be seen, but it looks very likely that he’ll take his next step up the ladder this summer.