Manchester City defender Philippe Sandler has joined Belgian club Anderlecht on loan for the 2019/20 season.
The Manchester Evening News reported that the 22-year-old centre-back has agreed a one-year loan move to the Brussels-based club.
The Dutch defender will once more link up with former team-mate and Manchester City legend Vincent Kompany, with the former City captain now player-manager at Anderlecht.
Sandler joined Manchester City last year from PEC Zwolle in his homeland but made only two first-team appearances for the Premier League champions, both in cup competitions against Rotherham and Burton Albion.
He also made six appearances for the club’s under-23 side but has played very little football in the last year and, despite Kompany leaving the Etihad Stadium in May, his loan move suggests that he feels his development would be best served working under his former team-mate at Anderlecht.
Sandler’s WhoScored profile notes interceptions, passing and tackling as the player’s main strengths, based largely on his performances for Zwolle in the 2017/18 season.
In that campaign, he averaged 1.5 tackles and 1.9 interceptions per game and recorded a passing success rate of 85%.
However, with John Stones, Aymeric Laporte and Nicolas Otamendi competing for centre-back berths under Pep Guardiola, would those figures have been good enough for Sandler to get a chance of first-team action more frequently at the Etihad?
His tackling and interception rates for Zwolle in 2017/18 were actually higher than those managed by his fellow Manchester City centre-backs last season. Otamendi’s match averages were 1.4 tackles and 1.6 interceptions per game, compared to Laporte with 1.2 tackles and 1.1 interceptions per game and Stones averaging 0.7 tackles and 0.6 interceptions per match.
However, those three players were all much more competent in possession than Sandler. Stones’ passing success rate was 94.2%, with Otamendi recording 92.7% accuracy and Laporte’s achieving a 92.3% success rate.
Although a SoccerSouls scout report on the 22-year-old Dutchman said that he was “suited to the Guardiola football philosophy of possession football”, his passing accuracy statistics would suggest that he has quite a way to go to match Manchester City’s more established centre-backs in this regard.
A season working under Kompany, who himself had an excellent 93% passing success rate last season, could be the ideal setting for Sandler to improve this part of his game under a coach who was such an astute passer as a player.
He doesn’t seem ready yet for regular first-team action at the Etihad, but his forthcoming spell with Anderlecht should tell us more about whether he could make the grade in future at Manchester City.
Manchester City fans, do you feel that Sandler going on loan to Kompany’s Anderlecht is a good move? Give us your views in the comments section below!
