‘Very keen’ Real Madrid star ‘in secret talks’ over shock transfer as Man City eye £388m double deal
Man City have held ‘secret talks’ to sign Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior as they weigh up a deal for his team-mate Rodrygo, according to reports.
The Citizens have already made six new signings this summer with Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri, James Trafford, Marcus Bettinelli and Sverre Nypan all joining.
Man City are keen to bring in more new faces as Pep Guardiola looks to put a disappointing 2024/25 campaign behind him, which saw them finish third in the Premier League and trophyless.
The Citizens have already agreed to allow Jack Grealish to join Everton on a season-long loan deal with an option to buy at the end of the season, while Savinho is the subject of interest from Tottenham.
That has led Man City to look at new attacking options this summer as they look to upgrade their already stacked forward line with transfer expert Fabrizio Romano revealing that Real Madrid winger Rodrygo is now a “serious” target for Guardiola’s side.
Romano said on his YouTube channel: “I want to confirm once again to you that Manchester City have a serious interest in Rodrygo.
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“What I can tell you is that Manchester City have started some contacts to understand the situation of the player, to understand how is the feeling of Rodrygo, how is the feeling of his family, his agents, and also to understand Real Madrid.
“Real Madrid are open to letting Rodrygo go this summer, but they want an important transfer fee, something around €100m. Eventually, Man City hope they can maybe negotiate that price for Rodrygo. Let’s see what happens there.”
There is also a rumour that they could look to sign Rodrygo’s Real Madrid and Brazil team-mate Vinicius Junior with the forward rejecting renewal offers on the table at the Bernabeu.
And now Indykaila on X, who broke the news that Man Utd are interested in Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba, are back to claim that Man City have held ‘secret talks’ with Vinicius Junior as he looks for a move to the Premier League.
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The account wrote on X: ‘Exclusive: Vinícius Júnior looks like he’s been in secret talks with Manchester City. The @realmadrid star is considering a move away from Real Madrid.
‘The player does have concerns with all the uncertainty surrounding those 115 charges against @ManCity, it’s no surprise he’s weighing his options just in case. The Manchester clubs, Liverpool, Arsenal & Chelsea are monitoring the situation The player is very keen on the @premierleague for this or next summer.’
Rodrygo would cost around €100m (£86m) this summer, while there have been reports that Real Madrid would demand €350m (£302m) to sell Vinicius Junior.
