James Ducker of the Telegraph says Manchester City are stepping up their pursuit of Marc Cucurella after the 24-year-old ‘submitted a transfer request’. Cucurella is keen to leave Brighton & Hove Albion for the Premier League champions, but the two clubs are £10m apart in their valuations.
City have a £30m bid and are now willing to pay £40m after making back £32m for Oleksander Zinchenko, but Brighton are holding out for £50m. Cucurella has made it clear that he wants to make the switch this summer and isn’t happy with the Seagulls blocking a move.
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City are keeping an eye on their finances this summer, trying to balance the books as much as possible, so they don’t want to pay more than £40m for the Spanish international. Pep Guardiola is a big fan of Cucurella, but Ducker says City could make a final attempt to land his signature before potentially giving up.
The 24-year-old joined Brighton for £16.2m from Getafe last summer and has gone on to make 38 appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal with two assists. Cucurella’s value has tripped in a year and City are mindful about paying over the odds for transfer targets, so time will tell how this saga ends.
In other news, Man City would never sell Bernardo Silva for £67m despite reports