Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are in the hunt for new additions to the City squad as the club aims to maintain its place at the top of English football, and make progress on the continent. The Sky Blues have been the envy of many, playing some beautiful football that has also brought silverware in the last two seasons.
With a minor shakeup in the squad eminent this summer as some players like Nicolas Otamendi, Danilo and Ilkay Gundogan could leave, while dependable names like Fernandinho and David Silva have reached the stage of diminishing returns and could see their roles reduced, the club wants to move fast to secure targets early in order to beat expected competition in the market.
One of the key positions ready for a boost is the midfield. It’s no longer news that Fernandinho is winding down his career at this time. So is David Silva. And so numerous names have been linked to the club in recent times. One of such was Frenkie de Jong. The Ajax midfielder even received a call from Pep just to convince him to move to Manchester. But rather unsurprisingly, he chose Barcelona.
Who wouldn’t when you have the opportunity to play in one of the most successful clubs in the history of the game. La Liga is Barcelona’s playground and winning the domestic double is a common occurrence. The Blaugrana have won eight league titles in the last 11 campaigns alone underlining their dominance. Add to that a chance to play alongside arguably the greatest footballer of all time, Lionel Messi and that seals the deal.
But City has moved on. Although the pursuit of Lyon’s Tanguy Ndombele is yet to yield the desired results, the latest move to bring in Sporting Lisbon’s Bruno Fernandes may well do so.
According to reports from several media outlets, the club is making serious moves to bring the Portuguese midfielder to the Etihad Stadium in the summer. City officials are reportedly set to complete the signing of the 24-year-old who has been in sublime form this season. The Sporting captain has notched in 16 league goals and clocked 12 assists in 30 games. He does have a rough edge to his game though as he has picked up eight yellow cards in that number of games. But that is something Guardiola can work on as the Catalan manager is well experienced in helping a player chisel out and smooth over the rough edges to his game.
City will be expected to pay between €50 million to €70 million for the player whose contract with the Portuguese side doesn’t expire until 2023.
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