Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola with inset of mystery silhouette
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola with inset of mystery silhouette
Manchester City are in pursuit of reinforcements in midfield as Kevin De Bruyne prepares to play his last game for the club before his summer departure.
Florian Wirtz was a key target for Manchester City, but they have since turned their attentions elsewhere.
Guardiola was said to be desperately keen on signing Wirtz, and viewed the Bayer Leverkusen No.10 as a primary target.
However, it has since been reported that City have pulled the plug on a move for Wirtz and opted to look elsewhere due to the costs.
Now, City are said to have become ‘clear front-runners’ for a different midfielder.
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
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Manchester City ‘clear front-runners’ for Morgan Gibbs-White
With City now out of the race to sign Wirtz, they’ve turned their attention to Nottingham Forest star Morgan Gibbs-White, according to GiveMeSport.
The report claims that the Citizens are clear front-runners for his signature, having seen the Forest star have his best season yet in the Premier League.
In terms of price tag, the report stressed that ‘it remains to be seen how much it will cost’ to sign Gibbs-White.
This is ‘despite previous claims that a fee of £100million would only be enough for his services’.
Tijjani Reijnders is also a target for Man City, with a bid said to be on the cards.
How Morgan Gibbs-White compares to Florian Wirtz
Gibbs-White and Wirtz boast different profiles, despite both players having played at No. 10 for the most part.
Wirtz, 22, has shown that he’s one of the best young players in world football, and he boasts more impressive numbers than Gibbs-White.
However, the 25-year-old Forest ace knows the Premier League inside out and has more of the physical attributes that Pep Guardiola is looking for in his team.
With Wirtz now seemingly being off City’s radar, it looks as though things should accelerate between the Citizens and Gibbs-White’s club and camp.
Jermaine Pennant recently said of Gibbs-White on talkSPORT: “You already know he’s proven in the Premier League, he is doing it at Nottingham Forest, and he’s creating a lot, he’s scoring.
“For them, he’s a very important player and it’s kind of a player that the City are going to be losing in Kevin De Bruyne, a player that gets on the ball, creates, passing, vision, amazing.”
Meanwhile, Ashley Cole recently admitted that he is a big fan of Gibbs-White, saying: “If you look at the potential of the player, again, he can do everything.
“He can run forwards, he can run backwards, and we always speak about that motivation to run backwards.”