Manchester City's Jeremy Doku has been hailed as a talismanic leader for Belgium ahead of the 2026 World Cup. The 24-year-old winger has delivered on Manchester City's £55m show of faith, scoring eight goals and providing 12 assists in 47 appearances. Doku will be working under a new coach in Manchester next term as Pep Guardiola has brought a glittering 10-year spell as City boss to a close. Enzo Maresca is expected to take on the challenge of succeeding a modern-day great, and he will find a prominent role for Doku within Premier League and Champions League plans. A £55 million deal done with Rennes in 2023 is looking like money well spent. Doku is already a title winner in England and has taken his collection of international caps to 42. The 'Golden Generation' of Belgian talent has started to break up, but new leaders are ready to step up. Quizzed on whether Doku could become the talismanic leader of that group, ex-Belgium international defender Toby Alderweireld said: 'Yes, of course. Some people talk about Jeremy Doku not matching the assists and goals with the biggest players on this planet. But don't forget how dangerous he is.' Alderweireld added: 'He's so good, he's so quick, strong. And when he does a dribble and it doesn't work, he will do it again, again, again. So that's his quality. He's not thinking, 'I did one dribble and I didn't succeed, I will play it back.' No, he goes again and again. So that's our main player for Belgium, this World Cup. Yeah.' Doku could be considered something of a rare breed in the modern game, with there few playmakers to be found nowadays that love nothing more than running at opponents while dipping into an explosive bag of tricks. Asked if the City forward is cut from the same cloth as iconic Brazilian creators such as Neymar and Ronaldinho, Alderweireld added: 'Yeah, and even without looking at assists and goals, he's a joy to watch. People are going to the stadium for him. If people want to see a World Cup match and they see Belgium, they think, okay, let's see Doku again and let's see how we get past people. Yeah, that's nice to see. So I think it's pure football. Doku is pure football.'