Hugo Viana will replace Txiki Begiristain as Manchester City's new Sporting Director this summer, tasked with continuing the rebuild at the Etihad.
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Hugo Viana has been working alongside Txiki Begiristain at City after leaving his role at Sporting.
Hugo Viana has been working alongside Txiki Begiristain at City after leaving his role at Sporting.
After a £180m January splurge, Manchester City look set to revisit the transfer market in the summer to speed up their squad overhaul.
The summer that initially looked like it would be the changing of the guard from the glorious Pep Guardiola era will instead see the manager stay but long-term partner Txiki Begiristain depart the Etihad Stadium.
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Begiristain is stepping down at the end of the season, with replacement Hugo Viana already at the club as he prepares to take over following a period of transition.
Viana will be tasked with continuing the work the Begiristain has started - rebuilding a squad that has brought so much to City in recent years but has been stretched to its limit and ultimately exposed this season.
The four January additions are a useful starting point, with the likes of Abdukodir Khusanov and Nico Gonzalez already showing their promise. Viana must find a way to shift some more fringe players, raise some money, and find future-proof replacements for Guardiola's final two years at the Etihad.
It helps, then, that Begiristain has already done some of the work for him.
At the end of the summer 2024 window, City loaned defender Yan Couto to Borussia Dortmund, with the Brazilian quickly triggering the clauses that made that move permanent, banking City a cool £25m in the process when that sale officially goes through in the summer.
Another late summer deal was academy winger Joel Ndala's switch to PSV Eindhoven, with an obligation to buy for an initial £5.9m (€7m), rising to £8.4m (€10m). Ndala has already been loaned to Nottingham Forest, so that higher number may not be reached, although City also hold a 20 per cent sell-on clause.
In January, midfielder Jacob Wright made the switch to Norwich on deadline day, with the Canaries obligated to buy him for £5m. And new reports suggest Kyle Walker's high-profile loan to AC Milan will be made permanent with the £4.2m (€5m) option they have to buy him.
That would give Viana a £40.1m head start on his summer plans, while further sales could include Kalvin Phillips who has been linked with a £20m sale back to Leeds this week. Other loanees include Maximo Perrone (who says he wants to stay at Como), and Issa Kabore (who expressed hopes of a longer stay at Werder Bremen than his half-season spell).
City have sell-on clauses on the in-demand Liam Delap which could prove lucrative, as well as on Taylor Harwood-Bellis. He has been a mainstay for a Southampton side plummeting towards relegation from the Premier League. So the Saints could cash in on the England international in the summer.
Callum Doyle, the centre-back enjoying another impressive Championship loan this season at Norwich, could perhaps follow in Harwood-Bellis' footsteps and secure a big-money move this summer to add millions more to Viana's warchest.