Saudi Pro League outfit NEOM SC have acted on their interest in Stefan Ortega, with a trusted reporter revealing how the Manchester City goalkeeper feels about such a move.
NEOM gained promotion to the Saudi top flight by winning last season’s First Division title. They have since signed the likes of Alexandre Lacazette, Said Benrahma, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Marcin Bulka as they look to compete in the Pro League.
So far this season, NEOM have beaten Damac 2-1 and lost 1-0 to Al-Ahli. Bulka became their new keeper in July, joining from Nice in a €15million deal, though he has since had to undergo surgery on an ACL tear.
Bulka is expected to miss most of the campaign and this has forced NEOM chiefs to enter the market for a replacement.
According to The Telegraph’s Mike McGrath, NEOM have ‘made a move’ to see if they can snare Ortega in a late-window raid.
While the summer transfer window has shut for pretty much all European clubs, it is open in Saudi Arabia until Tuesday, September 23.
NEOM are big admirers of Ortega and have ‘approached’ Man City to see if a deal can be done.
The 32-year-old is generally viewed as one of the best backup keepers in the world, but he has fallen down the pecking order this season.
City sold Ederson to Fenerbahce but signed both Gianluigi Donnarumma and James Trafford to compete for the No 1 spot. That leaves Ortega down in third place, and he did not even make the squad for the recent derby win over Manchester United.
Despite his difficult situation at the Etihad, Ortega ‘is not pursuing’ a move to the Middle East as things stand.
As such, NEOM will find it tough to convince him to join and may have to identify alternative keeper targets. They have a week to sign Bulka’s temporary replacement.
Ortega looks set to wait until January before re-evaluating his situation. It has previously been reported that the shot-stopper is holding out for a return to Germany.
Stefan Ortega could return to Bundesliga instead
It was revealed in November that a switch to Bayer Leverkusen would be ‘very tempting’ for Ortega.
He was also been linked with Borussia Monchengladbach in August.
Rivals Man Utd were credited with shock interest in Ortega over the summer, but they eventually decided to bring in Senne Lammens instead.
Ortega has made 56 appearances for City to date and has been part of a squad which has won one Champions League, two Premier League titles and one FA Cup, plus other silverware.
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