Manchester City have shown an interest in Robin Gosens, Nicolas Tagliafico and David Alaba, with Benjamin Mendy and Oleksandr Zinchenko having uncertain futures at the Etihad Stadium, but they’ve been given a transfer boost in their pursuit of Nuno Mendes.
The 18-year-old left-back is on City’s radar and has all the attributes to improve their defence, so it’s fantastic news that Sporting are willing to negotiate a cut-price. Mendes has a €70m (£60m) release clause but may be available for £40m (£34.2m).
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The uncapped Portuguese defender rose through the youth ranks to Sporting’s first-team in 2019/20 and has gone on to make 34 appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal and supplying two assists (Transfermarkt).
Mendes has been a regular at left-back this season and boasts more tackles (31) than Kyle Walker (26) and Oleksandr Zinchenko (22), so it’s easy to see why Guardiola is monitoring his progress.
Mendy has fallen down the pecking order and might be deemed expendable while City have been mooted to sign an upgrade on Zinchenko, so the Sky Blues could make a move for one of their left-back targets.
In other news, some fans say ‘unreal’ Man City man has ‘upped his game’ in recent weeks