Manchester City reportedly see a Barcelona star as a ‘priority target’ as Pep Guardiola has ‘set his sights’ on raiding his former club for an important asset.
City have a gap to make up to the big sides in England and in Europe. The Premier League title which was theirs for the last four years has gone to Liverpool, while Guardiola’s side bowed out of the Champions League in the knockout round playoffs.
The departure of Kevin De Bruyne will also be a big loss, whether City feel it will or not, and they are already looking to find a replacement for him.
According to Fichajes, they see Barcelona’s Dani Olmo as a ‘priority target’. The attacking midfielder has scored 11 goals and provided six assists in all competitions, including a levelling goal in the Champions League semi-final second leg against Inter Milan.
That he is able to turn up in big moments, it’s little surprise City boss Guardiola has ‘set his sights’ on the Spaniard. It’s stated City would be willing to make a ‘significant investment’ to secure Olmo, though it’s not stated exactly what they’d pay.
In any case, it says they’d like to secure the signing before the start of pre-season, which would presumably mean the Citizens want Olmo for the Club World Cup, which begins in June.
Olmo himself is said to have ‘appreciation’ for City’s style of play as well as his admiration for Guardiola, and it’s said the potential transfer depends on ‘the next step he takes in his career’ and the stance Barcelona ‘adopts’.
If not Olmo, City have other options to replace De Bruyne. Morgan Gibbs-White and Florian Wirtz have been two of the most heavily reported on of late.
Wirtz is said to be favouring Bayern Munich, but now that his current Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso is moving to Real Madrid, that could also be a good option for him, as they have had him in their sights.
City will seemingly keep Gibbs-White in their sights either way, though it’s not clear who their favoured option is at the moment.
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