According to a report from Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport, Man City appear willing to enter a three-way deal to sign Barcelona full-back Nelson Semedo this summer – offloading £60 million signing Joao Cancelo in the process and paving the way for Lautaro Martinez to make a Camp Nou switch.
Semedo, who has started 16 La Liga games for the Catalans this season, could be offered to City in a transfer loop involving three clubs – with defender Cancelo leaving for Inter Milan, thereby paving the way for Martinez to join Barcelona who also want to offload Semedo to us.
The 26-year-old, who has been dubbed ‘the next Dani Alves‘ in the past whilst plying his trade for Benfica, certainly has the stats to back up replacing our blockbuster summer signing in Cancelo.
Who would you prefer at right-back?
Joao Cancelo
Nelson Semedo
Kyle Walker
According to WhoScored, out of the Sky Blues players that have started over ten games this season, only Oleksandr Zinchenko has managed more tackles on average than the Portuguese full-back.
As well as this, Semedo boasts an impressive 88.4% pass accuracy from defence, more than the likes of David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero.
These numbers potentially highlight the fact Semedo would fit in seamlessly with our squad as Cancelo struggles for game time behind the impressive Kyle Walker this season.
As a result, our summer recruit has been linked with a move away, and this potential three-way deal could allow him a move to the San Siro whilst we bag a capable replacement.
Whether or not these transactions go through remains to be seen, but it would arguably be good business from all parties involved.