Man City signing of £42m PL star ‘in the works’ as four key steps revealed for summer ‘rebuild’
Manchester City are planning a ‘squad overhaul’ in the summer transfer window, with Florian Wirtz among their top targets, according to a report.
Bayer Leverkusen and Germany attacking midfielder Wirtz is one of Pep Guardiola’s reported targets to replace club legend Kevin De Bruyne.
De Bruyne is set to leave the club at the end of the season following the expiry of his contract.
The Belgian playmaker has won everything there is to win for Man City and has scored 107 goals and provided 177 assists in 417 appearances for them.
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He is irreplaceable but Guardiola will do his best to fill the void, with the player tasked with doing so expected to be signed this summer.
Wirtz and Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White are reportedly the top two candidates to join but both will cost a pretty penny.
According to a report from The Athletic, there will be a ‘squad overhaul’ at the Etihad this summer and the signing of at least one ‘creative midfielder’ is on the agenda.
City signed a holding midfielder, versatile forward and two young centre-backs in January and want to add more depth across the squad.
Guardiola will target ‘a goalkeeper, full-back and creative midfielders’ this summer and ‘progress has already been made towards bringing in some of their first choice’ signings.
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Signing both Gibbs-White and Wirtz is a possibility. According to the report, a move to sign the former ‘is in the works’, while ‘there is keen interest’ in the latter.
The Cityzens have ‘further meetings’ planned to ‘finalise their plans’, with director of football Hugo Viana only recently starting work as he is tasked with replacing Txiki Begiristain.
Guardiola’s side are currently working with ‘two full-time transfer chiefs’ with a huge summer on the horizon.
The report from Sam Lee adds that ‘adding quality to their squad’ is not the only plan to get City back to the top with ‘other requirements being prioritised’ for the ‘rebuild’.
On the agenda is ‘trimming the wage bill’, signing ‘reliable players’, ensuring the homegrown player rules are met and ‘adding some experience’ after the signings of young centre-backs Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov in the winter transfer window. Not to mention, De Bruyne and goalkeeper Ederson are expected to depart at the end of 2024/25.
Gibbs-White has been excellent for Nottingham Forest this season as Nuno Espirito Santo’s surprisingly side chase Champions League football.
The England international has five goals and seven assists in 29 Premier League appearances this campaign.
His value on Transfermarkt is 50 million euros (£42.4m) but Forest will likely ask for significantly more.
Wirtz, meanwhile, has nine goals and ten assists in 28 Bundesliga matches in 2024/25, on top of six goals in nine in the Champions League.
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