Defending Premier League champions Manchester City may be facing an overhaul in the centre of midfield at the end of the season and are chasing one of the world’s best young players as a result. ESPN’s Insider Notebook has the latest.
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Man City ready to rival Liverpool, Real Madrid for Bellingham
Manchester City are planning to revamp their midfield in the summer but will wait to learn whether Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan are set to stay before deciding on the level of investment required, sources have told ESPN.
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City are interested in signing Jude Bellingham he leaves Borussia Dortmund, but the Premier League champions will face competition from Liverpool and Real Madrid, while the England midfielder will command a transfer fee of over £100 million, plus some hefty add-ons. There is also acceptance they may need to bring in more than one new midfielder if both Silva and Gundogan leave.
Gundogan, 32, has got a contract at the Etihad Stadium until the end of the season and is set to wait before deciding whether to move or extend his stay. Silva, meanwhile, has made no secret of his desire to leave after six years at the club and while Pep Guardiola will not stand in his way if he’s determined to move, City will expect a sizable fee. Silva, 28, is under contract until 2025 and has attracted interest from Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, with the Camp Nou club making plans to land him last summer.
Speaking on Wednesday, City manager Guardiola said of Silva: “He’s a key player, so important on and off the pitch. A guy who can talk, it’s always a nice conversation, always you learn about his humanity, his vision for the club. He’s an incredible player against top sides, incredibly reliable in decisive games he’s always there. Nothing has changed about his future, it belongs to him.”
City signed Kalvin Phillips from Leeds United in the summer for a fee which could rise to £45m, although the midfielder has only made four appearances so far this season.
Bellingham, 19, is considered a key transfer target ahead of next season but it’s not considered a simple deal given his future star status, even though sources have told ESPN that City have a good relationship with Dortmund after signing both Erling Haaland and Manuel Akanji. — Rob Dawson
The German club, who will face Napoli in the Champions League round of 16, want to keep the 24-year-old for the remainder of this campaign before perhaps allowing him to leave in the summer if a suitable offer is received. Their desired transfer fee for the Parisian, who arrived on a free transfer last summer from Nantes, is likely to be up to €90m as he will still have four years left on his contract and, sources have told ESPN, he doesn’t have a release clause.
Kolo Muani’s excellent World Cup, on the back of a strong club season so far (22 games, eight goals and 10 assists in all competitions), have alerted some top clubs. At 24, he is a late bloomer, having not gone through an academy and only making his Ligue 1 debut two years ago.
However, Kolo Muani is happy and settled in the Bundesliga and it would be his preference for his next club to be in the same league. If Frankfurt are back in the Champions League next season he would not be against staying, but Bayern Munich, who are still looking for a long-term replacement for Robert Lewandowski, and Borussia Dortmund, who are yet to commit Youssoufa Moukoko to a contract beyond the end of the season, are also admirers of the forward. — Julien Laurens
… but Thuram could be a target for top clubs
Marcus Thuram is another France international from the Bundesliga to attract big interest from Premier League clubs, sources have told ESPN. And with only six months left on his contract at Borussia Monchengladbach, he is a very interesting proposition as a free agent in the summer, and could even be available in January for a reduced fee.
Premier League clubs such as Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Newcastle and Aston Villa, as well as Bayern Munich in Germany and AC Milan in Italy, are all following his progress closely. No offers have been made so far for the 25-year-old, and the player would equally be happy to finish the season with Gladbach as move elsewhere.
The son of 1998 World Cup winner Lilian, Marcus impressed at the World Cup with France, especially in the latter stages, and has been excellent in the first half of the season for Gladbach with 10 goals and three assists in 15 league games so far.
Thuram’s move from the left wing to a centre-forward role has paid dividends, and he has been a big part of the club being eighth in the table despite an inconsistent season, but he is ready to take his game to the next level in a club with higher ambitions. — Julien Laurens
