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Man City identify £35.9m replacement for Ilkay Gundogan, Pep Guardiola ‘is a fan’

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Manchester City are giving Ilkay Gundogan as much time as he needs to sign a new deal, but Fichajes say they’re also preparing for the possibility that he leaves. Pep Guardiola is reportedly ‘a fan’ of Brighton & Hove Albion’s Alexis Mac Allister and could make a move for the €40m-rated (£35.9m) midfielder this summer.

The 24-year-old joined Brighton from AA Argentinos Juniors in 2019 and has gone on to make 91 appearances in all competitions, scoring 15 goals with six assists. Mac Allister cost only €8m (£7.2m) at the time but has more than quadrupled in value after establishing himself as an indispensable first-team player.

The Argentina international, who had a hand in two goals from six games as his country won the World Cup in December, has scored seven times in 19 games for Brighton this season.

Mac Allister is a midfielder who’s adept at turning over the ball (3.9 tackles and interceptions per game), is composed in possession (89.1% pass completion), creates chances in the final third (0.9 per game) and can carry the ball from deep (0.9 successful dribbles per game).

It’s easy to see why Guardiola would be interested in Mac Allister with his top-flight experience and how well he fared at the World Cup, but City do have a lot of names on their shortlist to replace Gundogan if he leaves when his contract expires this summer.

Time will tell who they end up making an official approach for.

In other news, Riyad Mahrez should start v Tottenham, Pep Guardiola could drop Bernardo Silva for a third time

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He joined from Newcastle in 2000 and left to join FC Sochaux in 2003

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