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Are Manchester City Prepared to Walk Away from Cucurella deal?

Blues May Not Meet Seagulls Asking Price

Brighton & Hove Albion v West Ham United - Premier League Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images

Manchester City’s pursuit of a new left-back looks like continuing as a deal from Brighton defender Marc Cucurella is looking more unlikely by the day.

The sticking point for any potential transfer will be Brighton’s £50m+ asking price for the Spanish full-back, which is the same as Arsenal spent on Seagulls centre back Ben White, who move to the Emirates Stadium last summer.

City, however, are rumoured to be unwilling to pay such an amount for the defender, who has only played one season in the Premier League, and may be prepared to look elsewhere to solve their left-sided defensive issue.

The blues have been without a recognised left-back since Benjamin Mendy was suspended from the club, and have used a number of players in that position, including Joao Cancelo, Oleksandr Zinchenko Aymeric Laporte and Nathan Ake. It didn’t stop the blues winning the Premier League title, however, manager Pep Guardiola would prefer to have the position filled permanently.

City may negotiate with the Seagulls in relation to the fee, and the south coast club may be forced to consider a lower offer, rather than risking keeping an unhappy player on their books who has previously hinted that he’d want a move north.

City have also been linked with Wolves’ Frnech left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri, who has also attracted interest from Chelsea. However, the blues would have a similar issue with the Under-21 international, with the Black Country side wanting at least £45m.

What do you think? Are City right to walk away from a deal?