Manchester City are headed to the Club World Cup and expect to bring in a proven Premier League operator to strengthen their ranks before the tournament commences, according to David Ornstein.
Manchester City close to landing double midfield deal
With Kevin De Bruyne moving on to a new challenge elsewhere, Manchester City have wasted no time in finding a replacement for the Belgian icon and look set to wrap up a double deal in midfield before they jet out to the United States.
Pep Guardiola is closing in on AC Milan’s Tijjani Reijnders and Lyon star Rayan Cherki. The latter is set to arrive for a fee of £34 million after Florian Wirtz opted to move from Bayer Leverkusen to reigning champions Liverpool.
In the case of Reijnders, the final details of a transfer worth £50 million involving the Netherlands international are being ironed out before he officially links up with his new teammates at the Etihad Stadium.
Legendary defensive midfielder Rodri is also back after injury, creating a new-look engine room to take the Premier League by storm next term as the Citizens aim to reclaim the title.
Cementing what he wants his midfield to look like after a period of instability, Guardiola is also set to offer Rodri a new Manchester City contract to stave off interest from heavyweights Real Madrid – that could be worth £300,000 per week.
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City have stepped up their pursuit of a new midfielder, who just won a Player of the Season award.
Pressing on in their hunt for reinforcements, City are now closing in on another addition elsewhere on the pitch to equip themselves ahead of their Club World Cup endeavours.
Man City expect to sign Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers
Taking to social media platform X, reputable journalist Ornstein has reported all parties involved – from both clubs to the player’s camp – ‘expect’ a deal to be done that would see Rayan Ait-Nouri arrive at the Etihad Stadium from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
There is still work to be done before a final agreement can be reached, but they appear to be in pole position to land their main left-back target relatively quickly.
Labelled “incredible” by Gary O’Neil, Ait-Nouri has registered five goals and seven assists in 41 appearances across all competition for Wolves this campaign.
Creating 24 chances on Premier League duty this term, the Algeria international provided a regular threat in forward areas for the Old Gold as they managed to secure their top-flight status.
Josko Gvardiol and Nathan Ake have both shouldered the left-back burden at Manchester City, though bringing in a natural in that position could gift Guardiola the added bonus of being able to move one of them to a central role once all paperwork is completed.
Deemed to be worth around £51 million on the market, signing Ait-Nouri appears to be a shrewd addition by the Citizens ahead of the new campaign.