Dumped by Man City, overlooked by Chelsea and Man Utd - why does no one want Angelino?
FT Desk
- Updated: 3 Aug 2022 04:28 CDT
- 3 min read
Angelino starred for RB Leipzig last season, so what do they do? Sign a Germany international left-back in David Raum this summer, of course. Once spurned by Manchester City, why does nobody want Angie?
Angelino certainly has some hallmarks of a Pep Guardiola player. The City coach loves a full-back having spent more than €260 million on them since arriving at the Etihad in 2016, and Angelino cost 12 of those when City bought him back from PSV Eindhoven in 2019.
Angeliño, from heaven came 👼
🔴⚪ #RBLeipzig @angel_tasende69 pic.twitter.com/S02DlekGNO— RB Leipzig English (@RBLeipzig_EN) January 1, 2021
A pacy left-footer with a good touch, powerful shot and low centre of gravity, Angelino is also more than willing to get involved in attacks. Last season with Leipzig, he contributed three goals and 13 assists in all competitions. Yet Leipzig have spent €26m on his replacement, with incumbent Angelino still on the books.
A third stint at City seems unlikely with the champions now pursuing Anderlecht's Spain Under-21 star Sergio Gomez. Chelsea and Manchester United were previously linked, but the former look to have beaten City to Brighton's Marc Cucurella, while the latter have since picked up Tyrell Malacia from Feyenoord.
Angelino has been linked with Raum's former club Hoffenheim, meanwhile. Hoffenheim. This is a player who had three Champions League goals in seven games as recently as 2020/21. What is going on?
Does Angelino have an attitude problem?
There were signs that Angelino might be a problem character in February 2021 when he took to social media to defy the official club line.
Leipzig had left Angelino out of their squad for their 3-2 win over Borussia Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga, tweeting that the left-sider was out with a minor muscle issue. Angelino replied in the thread: "no muscle issue, I'm fit."
Then-coach Julian Nagelsmann - now of Bayern Munich - was philosophical at the time.
"We'll discuss it with him as is obviously wasn't the most clever move," he said, "But I also must say that I like him for precisely such reasons. It's something that distinguishes him. He's emotional and driven to play all the time."
But that didn't stop him from leaving Angelino out for the DFB Cup final against Borussia Dortmund that May.
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"Angelino is not there," Nagelsmann said before the 4-1 defeat to Dortmund. "I don't have to go into the exact reasons. He's not in the squad tomorrow."
Those reasons were reportedly that Angelino put in a listless performance in training in the run-up to the game after receiving negative feedback from Nagelsmann following their previous league outings, also against BVB.
Angelino has all the talent in the world, but if he wants to flex it at European football's top table and not halfway down the Bundesliga, his off-field actions need to match those on-field.
