Reports in Spain believe that Manchester City have placed a three-figure sum for one of the best defenders in La Liga as Pep Guardiola looks to win back the Premier League title for us this season.
What’s been said?
It looks like we have been trying desperately to sign another centre back after not replacing the great Vincent Kompany last summer, which for me, was played a big part in us finishing so far behind Liverpool last season.
Now, it looks like this has been recognised by Pep Guardiola and his backroom staff if the latest reports are to be believed. With Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly suggested to be at the top of our summer shopping list, it appears that we may have already moved for someone else.
Marca (via Sports Illustrated) believe that Atletico Madrid “insist” that they have received an offer in the region of €100m (£91.6m) for their talented centre-back Jose Gimenez from ourselves, but El Atleti are not willing to entertain talks with us for that sort of price.
Should we look to sign Jose Gimenez despite his €120m price tag?
Yes
No
The report added that the red half of the Spanish capital will look to demand closer to the 25-year-old’s €120m (£110m) buyout clause, which would be the highest transfer fee ever paid for a defender.
Second-best option
It is the worst kept secret among all of us right now as we understand that we desperately need to sign another defender this summer.
While I think Gimenez would be a brilliant signing for us, is he worth the money that Atletico are asking for him? For me personally, I think not, despite having appeared 58 times for Uruguay.
If I was Txiki Begiristain, I would be going hell for leather to try and bring Koulibaly to the Etihad Stadium. Like I previously said, his arrival would be similar to the one that Virgil van Dijk made at Liverpool, hopefully performing at an identical level.
It would show to our rivals that we are not here to make up the numbers again this year, and that we are here to win the Premier League once again.