Officials at Manchester City were reportedly desperate to sign Bayern Munich midfielder Aleksandar Pavlović over the summer transfer window, before ultimately pivoting to Enzo Fernández when the Germany international opted to stay in Bavaria.
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From the way Enzo Fernández has slotted into Enzo Maresca and Manchester City’s midfield during the opening weeks of the brand new season, it is easy to forget that the Argentine only made his debut a month ago.
However, if fresh reports from German media are now to be believed, the former Chelsea and Benfica star was not the club’s first choice as Hugo Viana and his transfer colleagues scoured the summer market for reinforcements.
Behind the scenes over the summer transfer window, Manchester City recruitment staff allegedly had their eye on a different name entirely, and pushed hard to land him before being knocked back.
Manchester City’s failed Pavlović pursuit revealed
Now, according to Sky Germany, Manchester City were 'very, very, very interested' in a deal for Aleksandar Pavlović and were looking at signing the Germany international to become the linchpin of their midfield rebuild as far back as the spring.
That interest would only have increased when City were left to fill the void left by Rodri's £65.4 million move to FC Barcelona, with the Spaniard keen on a return to his home country off the back of a stellar FIFA World Cup-winning campaign.
The groundwork to extract Pavlović from Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich squad ran deep with Hugo Viana - the Manchester club's Director of Football - reportedly phoning the player's representatives several times with a view to doing a deal.
Manchester City were willing to go to €100 million for the midfielder - a figure Bayern Munich were made aware of - and the 22-year-old reportedly sat above Enzo Fernández in the club’s order of preference at that point, with the Argentine still on Chelsea’s books.
Why the Bayern Munich star chose to stay in Germany
In the end, the finances being touted in any potential deal proved irrelevant as Aleksandar Pavlović, a graduate of Bayern Munich’s academy, had no wish to leave the club where he had spent most of his life.
“I’m Bavarian, I’m from Munich and I want to stay at Bayern,” he said, a firm rebuff that forced Manchester City to look elsewhere.
A composed, deep-lying controller already capped by Germany, Pavlović is rated among the finest young midfielders in Europe and fits the exact profile City look for in that area. His loyalty will please Bayern fans more than City staff, who regarded a deal as gettable.
Look elsewhere they promptly did, and rather than dwell on the knock-back, Manchester City switched attention to Enzo Fernández, prising him out of Chelsea for a club-record £125 million.
No regrets at the Etihad Stadium
Whatever the pecking order back then, Manchester City can hardly complain about how things ultimately turned out during the summer transfer window, and in the opening weeks of the new season.
Enzo Fernández, who racked up 10 goals and four assists in 36 Premier League outings last season with Chelsea, has so far looked every bit the all-action, progressive midfielder manager Enzo Maresca was looking for at the heart of his side.
It would not be the first time Manchester City missed out on a number one target, only to end up with a player that went on to exceed expectations - just ask Rodri, the very man Fernandez was brought in to help replace.