Manchester City were left flailing when Vincent Kompany told them in 2019 he would be leaving. The question of how to replace such an integral figure in the club's history was agonised over for more than a year, and after Txiki Begiristain refused to meet Leicester's £80m valuation for Harry Maguire there were some painful reminders of the gap in the backline.
Pep Guardiola gave up on the pairing of John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi after a calamitous defeat at Norwich in September 2019, leaving Fernandinho forced to play out of position for the majority of a campaign where
Liverpool streaked away with the title. City were still not set on a Kompany replacement in the summer of 2020, and after strong interest in Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly, a 5-2 humbling at the hands of Leicester prompted them to snap up Ruben Dias - a defender available for less after Benfica's unexpected exit from the
Champions League in qualifying. Dias had been picked as the man to fill those enormous boots from Kompany. Also read: Meet the McAtees - City prospect James and brother chasing same FA Cup dream It worked out better than anyone could have expected. Dias transformed a defence that had looked shaky and City waltzed their way to another
Premier League title and made the Champions League final on the back of a mean backline that the Portugal international was at the heart of. In the 18 months since, Dias could not match the extremely high standards he set. He was still an extremely good defender, but it no longer seemed indefensible to pick others, with John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Manu Akanji and Nathan Ake all showing what they could do. Now, Dias is undroppable again. City badly missed him while he was injured in the month after the
World Cup and since he has returned to the side they are unbeaten: nine games, seven wins, two draws, and four consecutive clean sheets. One of his biggest strengths is not only that he relishes and celebrates keeping opponents quiet, but that he keeps that energy for each of his teammates. Just like Kompany did, Dias makes his teammates better thanks to his character, leadership and attitude on and off the pitch. “He is the type of player similar to Vinny, where it is not about how he plays himself," said Guardiola. "Ruben is not just playing his game, he is playing the game for everyone. He has the ability to see and solve problems for many, many things. His character is so important. “When you talk about tactics, he is incredible, his leadership is huge - especially even when he doesn’t play. You should see the impact he makes before the game, at half time, and after the game, and when he doesn’t play, game by game by game. "He behaves the same when he doesn’t play, and that makes you deserve to be captain or deserve to be chosen as captain. His character and leadership are really, really important. “He never complains, has the same methodology and work ethic when playing and training, always arriving two hours before and leaving two hours after, nothing changes. He lives 24 hours for his profession. “In moments, maybe my mistake or not, when I decide to need something specific, a movement or something that the opposition has, there are players which are maybe a little bit better, there is a tactical aspect, but he should play every single game. His mentality is top of the top, and that’s why he can play as a central defender in a top, top club like
Manchester City.” READ NEXT: All the latest Man City news, views and gossip 'I don't care' Guardiola warning to City stars Guardiola has one Kompany regret ahead of return Begiristain raises the bar as Alvarez signs new deal City get tough Champions League draw