Pep Guardiola has five central defenders in his first-team (Ruben Dias, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Aymeric Laporte, Manuel Akanji) but Carlo Laudisa of La Gazetta believes he’s battling Atletico Madrid for another – Giorgio Scalvini.
The 18-year-old plays for Atalanta BC and has already racked up 25 appearances at senior level after working his way through the youth ranks – 17 appearances for the U17s and 41 appearances for the reserves.
Scalvini made his Serie A debut at the age of 17, is already a regular at the heart of Atalanta’s defence and has represented Italy’s national team on one occasion, so his future looks bright.
It’s easy to see why City would be interested, but it remains to be seen if the rumours hold merit. Guardiola has enough options at the back and would have to loan Scalvini out if he did sign him due to the stiff competition for places.
Atalanta will be desperate to keep the highly-rated centre-back, but his deal being up in 2023 is a problem. If Scalvini has no desire to stay at the Gewiss Stadium and has his head turned by all the interest, he could let his contract run down and join a club on a free transfer next summer.
That may push Atalanta to cash in early while he still has value.
In other news, Riyad Mahrez hopes to finish career at Man City months after new deal
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