City boss Pep hails ‘midfielder’ Zabaleta

Pep Guardiola is a little short of midfield options at Manchester City, but the manager says he may have found a gem in Pablo Zabaleta.

The 31-year-old has spent his entire career as a right-back or centre-back, but slotted into the centre of midfield in City’s 5-0 FA Cup third round win away at West Ham United.

Zabaleta joined City from Espanyol in 2008 and helped the club win the Premier League title in 2012 and 2014, as well as the 2011 FA Cup and two League Cups.

Guardiola has a headache in the centre of midfield with Fernandinho suspended after his third red card in six games, and Ilkay Gundogan out for the rest of the season with a serious knee injury.

Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images

Yaya Toure, Fernando and Fabian Delph are the only recognised centre midfielders available – opening the door for Zabaleta, who looked comfortable at the London Stadium.

“To give us a little bit more consistency, he can play there in the middle perfectly,” Guardiola said.

“He’s a fighter, he helps us a lot in the middle, he’s a guy who arrives in the right tempo. And like against Celtic he made a good performance, really good.”