Manchester City midfielder Claudio Echeverri
Manchester City midfielder Claudio Echeverri has interest from Benfica
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Manchester City are set to offload two fringe players in a double deadline day on what promises to be a frantic finale to the transfer window.
The Blues are working on a club-record move for Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez and have agreed a £65million deal with Everton for Iliman Ndiaye, with Jack Grealish going the other way on loan.
But away from those headline moves, City are finalising the exits of defender Juma Bah and playmaker Claudio Echeverri.
Centre back Bah, who has spent the last two seasons on loan in France with Lens and Nice, will join Bundesliga side Augsburg on an initial loan deal with the German club having the option to make the deal permanent next summer for a fee believed to be around £18.5million.
Bah joined City in 2025 for around £7m in contentious circumstances from Real Valladolid. The Spanish club were angry at the move and accused City of encouraging the then 18-year-old to activate his release clause that meant his contract was terminated and he was free to join anyone willing to pay his fee.
The 20-year-old is under contract at City until 2031 and has been capped by Sierra Leone at international level.
Meanwhile, Echeverri has interest from Portuguese giants Benfica. The two clubs are in discussions over an initial loan move which could include an option to buy. Benfica were among the clubs monitoring Echeverri when he joined City in 2023 and face competition for the Argentine's services from clubs in England and Europe, but Benfica, who are in the Europa League this season, are leading the chase.
The talented playmaker burst onto the City scene when he was introduced off the bench in the FA Cup final defeat to Crystal Palace two seasons ago before making his mark at the Club World Cup with a fine goal against Al Ain before injury curtailed his tournament.
But the 20-year-old has failed to kick on since then and spent last season on loan at Bayer Leverkusen, where he barely played, and then Girona, who were relegated.
Echeverri, who is under contract at the Etihad until 2028, joined City from River Plate to great fanfare but has made just three appearances for City and is not in Enzo Maresca's first team plans for the season.