When Martin Demichelis first signed for Manchester City back in September 2013, a few eyebrows were raised over the transfer. The defender signed for the Citizens some two months after transferring from Manuel Pellegrini's Malaga CF to Spanish giants Atletico Madrid, and yet to make an appearance.
Demichelis overcame a tough start to life in Manchester
Things didn't exactly get off to a flying start at the Eastlands, a string of shaky performances didn't exactly win over the City fans, none more so in City's away defeat to Chelsea, or home Champions League tie against Barcelona in February 2014. Demichelis' last ditch tackle on the edge of the area saw the Argentine sent for an early bath and Barcelona awarded a dubious penalty ulitmately sealing City's European fate that season.
However, things began to pick with Demichelis putting in an excellent performance away to Hull City when the Sky Blues went down to ten men within the first fifteen minutes after Vincent Kompany was dismissed for a clumsy challenge on Nikica Jelavic.
Demichelis went on to command the back four for the remainder of that game and began to repay Pellegrini's faith that he had been entrusted with. Following this, Demichelis began to climatise to the style of the English game and cemented himself in the latter half of what went on to be City's second title winning season.
Where does he remain after the Otamendi signing?
A disappointing season from City just gone, left the defence as a real area for strengthining. With Jason Denayer loaned to Turkish outfit Galatasaray, Nicolas Otamendi was identified as the ideal replacement. The former Valencia CF man has certainly lived up to the billing, a warrior of sorts he's formed an excellent partnership with Kompany, most notably this season bossing the Manchester Derby keeping the scoreline at 0-0 and rightly earning MOTM. At the age of 27 City can expect to enjoy some of Otamendi's best years and pushing the much improved Eliaquim Mangala out of the first team is a sign of the class he has brought to the City defence.
So where does this leave Demichelis? At the age 34, soon to be 35, he'll only have another year or two left in the tank and what the with the high demand of physicality typical of the top European leagues, it may be just limited to one.
Whilst it can be argued he still has the desire to play at the top level in recent and regular call ups to the Argentina sqaud, there has been much recent speculation about him making a return to his native Argentina and his first club River Plate, where he can let his final season/s pan out into a not too far away retirement. Whether or not this is Demichelis' final season in Sky Blue, his service to the club has been a largely frutiful one, collecting some silverware along the way as well as winning over the City faithful and not to mention those wonderful long locks of his we dearly miss.