Manchester City have set their sights on a shock swoop for Newcastle's Tino Livramento, with reports suggesting Pep Guardiola is keen to shake up his team for a full-throttle challenge next term following a trophyless season.
The 22-year-old defender, who joined Newcastle from Southampton last year for £40m and has since earned an England call-up, is under contract for three more years, but that hasn't deterred City's interest despite the Magpies' reluctance to sell.
In addition to eyeing Livramento, City are advancing negotiations for Wolves' Rayan Ait-Nouri, hoping he'll be on board in time for the Club World Cup. They're also engaging Lyon for Rayan Cherki and have lodged a hefty £55m bid for AC Milan's Tijjani Reijnders.
City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak recently vowed a robust comeback next season after finishing a distant 13 points behind Liverpool, marking the first year in eight without silverware. He declared: "We will be back. This season is a season that's now behind us. Today is a new day. We start working and preparing for next season. And by the way, we've been doing that since January.
"And we will take all the good things and the not so good things from this season, and learn from it, improve from it and get better."
"I can assure you, this club will do everything possible to come back to the standards that we know we all can achieve - and that we know we will achieve.
"Because really, if there's one thing I'd like right now, it's to turn that page from last season and just immediately start focusing on next season. All the players, they're excited about coming back. Nobody feels good about how we finished the season.
"They want to come back, and they want to come back hungry. And I can see the hunger. Normally these players are off and they're starting to think about vacation time etc. Honestly, every player I spoke to was telling me, 'we're coming back'.
"That's the attitude you want - and that's exactly why you see me so positive. We're going to come back strong, with a lot of positivity."