Manchester City have been in talks with CA Velez Sarsfield over a deal for Maximo Perrone since December without a move being finalised, but it appears they’ve made some progress and could confirm the transfer this week.
According to Simon James and Lewis Browning of the Daily Mail, City are expected to complete the deal in the coming days, making the 18-year-old their first signing of the January transfer window.
And whether they plan to bring in more this month remains to be seen after Pep Guardiola played down the possibility of a significant mid-season spend. Perrone recently turned 20 and would have Rodri and Kalvin Phillips for competition, so he’s not been signed to start games just yet.
City are paying £6.5m for Perrone and will have him in Manchester after the South American U-20 Championship. Benfica, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United were interested in the defensive-midfielder, so he’s highly rated in Europe.
Whether Perrone will stay in the first-team or be loaned out is up in the air and may depend on how he performs when Pep Guardiola gets a good look at him.
In other news, here’s why the best part of Man City’s win over Chelsea wasn’t the performance
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