Spanish Side Have ‘Agreed Deal in Principle’ for ‘Clever, Intelligent’ Manchester City Defender

Manchester City starlet Vitor Reis is set to head to La Liga side Girona, who are members of the City Football Group and partially owned by Pep Guardiola’s brother Pere, on loan as the clubs have “agreed a deal in principle” for the 19-year-old, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Vitor Reis Set for Girona Loan Move

Is Vitor Reis Still a Part of Manchester City’s Long-Term Plans?

The youngster, who was signed for a whopping £29.6 million in January, is set to leave Manchester on loan after just six months at the Etihad Stadium. City’s incoming Director of Football, Hugo Viana, who only officially started his role today following the formal departure of Txiki Begiristain, reportedly played a significant role in bringing Reis to City, acting on City’s behalf to make the transfer happen even though he was months away from officially taking the reins in the north of England.

However, the last few months have been far from straightforward for Reis as the 19-year-old has seen virtually no competitive action for the Cityzens. His three starts in Sky Blue have been against Leyton Orient, Plymouth Argyle and Wydad Casablanca, three teams who are nowhere near City’s level. At one point, the youngster was even given minutes for Manchester City’s Premier League 2 side as he had been playing so few minutes for the first team.

Players who have gone out on loan at City during Guardiola’s reign have historically not fared well. James McAtee, who spent two seasons at Sheffield United, has struggled to regain the Catalan’s trust over the last 12 months and looks set to be leaving the club before the end of the transfer window despite having a tremendous amount of talent. The only player to ever successfully reintegrate into the first team following a loan spell was Oleksandr Zinchenko, and there was a fair amount of luck involved in the Ukrainian’s situation. A natural attacking midfielder, Zinchenko was shoehorned into the team as a left-back following injuries to Benjamin Mendy and Fabian Delph.

The Future for Reis

Moving to Girona is a slightly different situation from moving to Sheffield United or PSV Eindhoven. As the club is part of the City group and closely linked to the Guardiola family, Reis can be nurtured a lot more precisely, and City should be able to recall him more easily if the loan spell does not go to plan. The Brazilian, who has been called “clever” and “intelligent” by Guardiola, would also be facing intense competition for a regular place in City’s starting XI, so leaving the club on loan is probably a risk worth taking.