All the signs suggest that Manchester City mean business in the summer transfer window as they hope to return to the top after failing to win a trophy last season.
Manchester City are confident about signing Rayan Cherki and expect to seal the deal to bring the Frenchman to the Etihad Stadium in the next few days.
Tijjani Reijnders is close to joining Manchester City as well to help complete their midfield revamp.
Tino Livramento is Manchester City’s number one target as they intend to bolster the full-back department.
Rayan Ait-Nouri is another player who has been linked with a move to the Etihad Stadium.
Photo by Jack Thomas - WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
Photo by Jack Thomas – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
Wolves expect Man City to sign Rayan Ait-Nouri
Recently, Manchester City enquired about signing Ait-Nouri as well.
More Man City News
David Ornstein has now revealed that while City have not sealed an agreement to sign the Algerian, who Conor Coady called “fantastic” while speaking to Wolves’ website, Vitor Pereira’s side expect the move to go through.
Ait-Nouri is Manchester City’s priority target in the left-back position and they hope to sign him this summer, with Josko Gvardiol impressing at centre-back and Nico O’Reilly being a number 10 by trade.
Rayan Ait-Nouri stats compared to Josko Gvardiol
The former Angers defender is one of the best left-backs in the Premier League and can be compared to Joao Cancelo for his flair, attacking threat and ability to play in an inverted role.
The 23-year-old has also shown that he can operate as a wing-back, which would be music to Pep Guardiola’s ears as he has always favoured tactically versatile players.
The stats show that Ait-Nouri is similar to Gvardiol, who stood out for Manchester City last season.
STATS PER 90 JOSKO GVARDIOL RAYAN AIT-NOURI
SHOT-CREATING ACTIONS 1.94 2.63
TACKLES 1.61 2.58
INTERCEPTIONS 1.19 0.75
PROGRESSIVE PASSES 7.35 3.13
PROGRESSIVE CARRIES 2.55 2.58
Via FbRef over the past 365 days
In fact, Ait-Nouri has the edge on Gvardiol in certain metrics, such as his shot-creating actions, attempted tackles and progressive carries per game over the past year.
However, the Croatian makes more progressive passes and interceptions than the City target.
All in all, it seems like Manchester City look set to make yet another astute signing.
City will be hoping that Ait-Nouri becomes their starting left-back for years to come, as no player has been able to do since Gael Clichy.