Manchester City could land their favourite midfield target from a Premier League rival this summer by offering a £100million player to them.
City will allow Kevin De Bruyne to leave the club very soon, at the conclusion of his contract. Though the Club World Cup begins prior to the Belgian’s contract ending, it’s likely he has played his last game in a City shirt.
He felt he could have gone on – and was directly involved in 14 goals this term – but the Citizens chose not to offer him a new deal.
As such, they are on the hunt for a new attacking midfielder, and it has long been suggested that Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White is right at the top of their list.
The Englishman was one of Forests’s very best assets this season, and they reportedly value him at £100million.
In order to let him go, Football Insider reports the City Ground outfit could ‘look to sign either Jack Grealish or James McAtee as part of a swap’ for Gibbs-White.
Insider Pete O’Rourke said: “Swap deals are notoriously hard in the Premier League, but we know Morgan Gibbs-White is a major target for Manchester City this summer.
“He’s had a very good season for Forest — seven goals and ten assists. He’s under contract at the City Ground until 2027.
“If they get an offer which is too good to turn down, Forest might have to let him move to City, to work under Pep Guardiola. You’d probably be thinking that Forest will be looking to double their investment.
“Jack Grealish potentially is a swap deal – [that] might cause unrest if Forest were to break their budget to try and get Grealish in.
“James McAtee; there’s definitely interest in him from Forest, he was surprisingly left out of City’s squad for the final game of the season, which tells you that he doesn’t figure in Pep’s plans.
“He’ll probably have to seek a move away, but there’ll be lots of competition for McAtee’s signature.”
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Indeed, Forest paying Grealish’s wages might be an issue. They reportedly have just one player in their squad who earns more than £100,000 per week – Nikola Milenkovic on £105,000.
Grealish earns a reported £300,000 per week, so Forest would be breaking the bank to sign him, though a move there could see him given the sort of minutes he should be playing, for the quality of player he is.
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