Manchester City reportedly ready to break the world record to sign Dele Alli

So this is fun. Manchester City don't play until Monday, and there are not a lot of things to say about the match against AFC Bournemouth. Pep Guardiola already gave his press conference, Eddie Howe already gave his press conference, the players already talked about the game... but it's still Sunday, and there's gotta be some City news.

So what does the Daily Express decide to do? Come up with a story that City are ready to BREAK THE WORLD RECORD to sign Tottenham Hotspur star Dele Alli, who could be worth more than Paul Pogba when Manchester United signed him. Apparently Pep Guardiola sees Alli as his main target for the summer transfer window, and the City owners are ready to spend as much as it takes to make the deal happen.

The Express also reports that City are ready to do battle with Real Madrid, who also see Alli as their main target and are also prepared to spend whatever it takes to convince the player to leave Spurs. Coincidentally, this report comes out after Dele played a poor match in which Tottenham lost to Liverpool on Sunday, so on top of Spurs fans being sad for losing, they could see one of their best players go.

This is so creative! Well done, Express! There's one problem, though: this is absolutely ridiculous and there is no chance it will ever happen this summer. For a few reasons: Dele just signed a new contract with Tottenham, and Spurs have a very good project for the future and certainly do not plan to sell their best players to direct rivals.

Another reason for this being BS is that City have Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva in midfield, and with Leroy Sané, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Sergio Agüero and Kelechi Iheanacho also in the squad, there's definitely no need for reinforcements in the attack.

City will spend a lot of money this summer, but on the defense. New full-backs and center-backs are going to be signed, and we could even see a new goalkeeper coming to the Etihad. But never an attacking midfielder.

Still, props to the Express for the effort. It takes a creative mind to come up with such a ridiculous rumor.