Julian Nagelsmann is Working His Magic Once More With Manchester City Loanee Angeliño

Julian Nagelsmann is at it again, people.

From turning Konrad Laimer into one of Europe's most underappreciated midfielders to reigniting the careers of Patrik Schick and Christopher Nkunku, the 32-year-old has had a profound effect on the Leipzig squad since his summer arrival. 

And now, Nagelsmann seems to be working his magic once more. This time with Manchester City loanee Angeliño.

Angelino

The 23-year-old Spaniard - who signed from Deportivo La Coruna in 2013 - struggled to settle in Manchester, being loaned out four times before being sold to PSV Eindhoven for £5m in the summer of 2018. Pep Guardiola then decided to utilise the buy-back clause in Angeliño's PSV contract last summer to bring him back to the Etihad Stadium after an impressive campaign in the Eredivisie.

Despite Benjamin Mendy being a mere shadow of his 2016/17 Monaco self and Oleksandr Zinchenko missing a significant chunk of the campaign due to injury, Angeliño made just four Premier League starts this season, with Guardiola reluctant to use the diminutive Spaniard since the game away at Liverpool - where he struggled against the directness and pace of the Reds attack.

His lack of minutes saw him loaned out to Die Roten Bullen on deadline day last month, with Nagelsmann needing cover for Marcel Halstenberg after deputy left-back Marcelo Sarrachi departed on loan to Galatasaray.

Marcel Halstenberg

And Leipzig's centre-back crisis meant that Angeliño was drafted into Nagelsmann's starting XI almost immediately after his arrival.

Following the 3-1 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt in the DFB-Pokal on Angeliño's debut, the Leipzig boss has since switched to a back three, with Halstenberg and Lukas Klostermann typically partnering Dayot Upamecano at the heart of the defence. This has allowed the City loanee to play in a role at left wing-back.


​In Nagelsmann's high-pressing, vertical and organised system, the 23-year-old has thrived. 

The Leipzig boss' deployment of Angeliño in an aggressive wing-back role has allowed the Spaniard to somewhat rediscover the form that made him such an offensive threat at PSV.

Angelino

Against Tottenham in the Champions League round of 16 first leg, the Spaniard was a constant menace for Gedson Fernandes and Serge Aurier down the left-hand side. Nagelsmann's 3-4-1-2 set-up that day enabled them to easily manipulate Jose Mourinho's passive 4-4-2, with striker Schick's narrow positioning often forcing Aurier inward and opening up the space for Angeliño in higher zones down the left. 


The Spaniard almost scored in the opening stages when he fiercely met Nordi Mukiele's cross with a sweet left-footed effort, only for his strike to ricochet off Hugo Lloris and cannon off the post.

That night, he also proved how he's swiftly adapted to Nagelsmann's system - displaying a good understanding with Timo Werner on the left in terms of rotations to confuse and pin back the erratic ​Aurier

Angelino

Angeliño followed his impressive Champions League display up with two similar performances in the ​Bundesliga against Werder Bremen and ​Schalke, scoring his first goal in Leipzig colours against the latter on Saturday evening - easing past an overcommitted Jonjoe Kenny in the box before showing off his fine technique to blast the ball across Alexander Nubel between the sticks.

His rapid adjustment to life at the Red Bull Arena has seen him garner praise from his new manager.

"Here he has to do a lot of things very differently than he did with Pep Guardiola," Nagelsmann told Kicker, speaking ahead of the Schalke encounter. "He adapts to things incredibly quickly.

"He is the only newcomer to get used to the way I think about football - just offensive - so quickly.

"He doesn't worry too much, but intuitively he does a lot of things right. He obviously thinks a lot before the games and thinks about what he needs to do and how the trainer is satisfied," he added.

And while he's only appeared five times for Die Roten Bullen, his impressive start has meant there's already been talk of Leipzig activating Angeliño's €30m option to buy when his loan deal in Germany expires in the summer. 

Julian Nagelsmann

Speaking about a potential deal, Nagelsmann added: "He has a juicy price tag. We first have to see what is in the wallet and whether the player and the selling club will play along. We will see in the future."


While the Leipzig boss cooled talk about a potential deal, it'd make sense for them to add Angelino to their ranks permanently, especially if Nagelsmann persists with a back three when the likes of Ibrahima Konate and Willi Orban return from injury.

As for City, if they were to sell the Spaniard to Leipzig at the end of the season at the agreed price, that'd represent a tidy profit from the £5m they spent to bring him back to the club in the summer. 

And with Guardiola demanding so much defensively of his full-backs - Angeliño struggles one-vs-one and is often caught high up the pitch - it wouldn't make much sense for City to bring the Spaniard back once more. Unless, of course, Guardiola ditches the use of inverted full-backs and switches to a back five to almost accommodate Angeliño

FBL-ENG-PR-MAN CITY-MAN UTD

That just won't happen, however. 

Nevertheless, with the Spaniard already thriving under Europe's hottest coaching prodigy, it seems that it'd be in the interest of both parties for Leipzig to activate the option to buy included in Angeliño's current loan deal. 

From Schick to Nkunku to Laimer and now Angeliño; Julian Nagelsmann is nothing short of a magician.


Source : 90min