DBasia.news – Joleon Lescott stated, Ruben Dias has brought the same mentality to the Manchester City defense as Virgil van Dijk did when he joined Liverpool.
City have been able to set an extraordinary defensive record since Dias joined from Benfica in September. The Citizens secured 20 wins from 27 matches, kept 16 clean sheets and conceded only nine times.
The Portugal international also presents a quality leaderhsip at the Etihad, which has been felt to be missing since the departure of former captain Vincent Kompany after the club won their last league title in 2019.
“Dias is the figure we are looking for, he has won many things,” said Lescott, who was a key defender in City’s success in winning the 2012 EPL title.
“He knows what it means, he knows the standards, and has a winning mentality. He’s been at that point before. He brings his experiences,” said the legend.
Some of Dias’ statistics are even better than when van Dijk arrived at Liverpool from Southampton.
City have conceded 17 fewer goals, kept four more clean sheets and won three more games than Liverpool did following van Dijk’s arrival in January 2018.
“The stats are much better [for Ruben],” continued Lescott.
“I don’t want to take anything from Dias, but he comes to a team that has been successful, Liverpool are not,” he said.
“Liverpool hoped to be contenders for the champions at that time. The gap they have to cut is very difficult. But that does not rule out what Dias is doing because he deserves high credit. But it’s hard to say, one influence is bigger than the other,” he explained.
“If we do not succeed in bringing Dias and win the league this season, it will not be a surprise,” said Lescott.