Man City nearing deal for Saul Niguez to replace aging Fernandinho

Editorial Team 6 years ago

Saul Niguez - Atletico Madrid

Fernandinho has been one of the key players driving Manchester City towards success under Pep Guardiola in recent years. Man City don’t have a like-for-like replacement for Fernandinho in their first team squad. When the Brazilian was unavailable, Pep employed Gundagon in the defensive midfield position.

Even though the German’s quick turns, deft touches and goals have added a new dimension to Man City’s attack, the blues still miss the aggression and positioning of Fernandinho when he doesn’t play. When the Brazilian was injured in December, both Crystal Palace and Leicester City exposed defensive short-comings of City’s midfield by scoring on quick counters.

Despite the Brazilian’s brilliant performances in the City shirt, he is 34 years old and the fear within the Etihad is that he could slip out of his peak in the next season. Pep Guardiola has prioritized the signing of a midfielder to replace Fernandinho in City’s starting XI next season and his wish-list included Frankie De Jong and Saul Niguez. City missed out on Frankie De Jong who signed a pre-contract agreement with Barcelona which will see him move from Ajax in a €75 million move.

The Blaugrana were also the favourites to sign Atletico Madrid’s Saul Niguez but ESPN reports that Man City have now sneaked ahead of the Catalan giants in the race for Saul. ESPN claim that a source close to Saul had said “He can’t stay at Atletico anymore, everything’s complicated for him there”. Although Barcelona have the first option on the 24 year old Atletico Madrid star, the midfielder’s camp is prepared to tell the Catalan club Saul will be moving to Manchester to play for Pep Guardiola’s side. Atletico are holding out for a fee close to €120 million, City are confident of landing him for a fee in the range of €70 – 80 million.

Man City have also been linked with Eintracht Frankfurt’s striker Luka Jovic. After signing just one major player in the form of Riyad Mahrez in the last 2 transfer windows, Man City are expected to spend this summer after watching Liverpool strengthen their squad significantly by out-bidding competitors in the transfer market. Atletico on the other hand face the challenge of holding onto Antoine Griezmann who is linked heavily with the Blaugrana.

Editorial Team

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LosMejor's Editorial Team includes a team of experts who cover the UEFA Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and the Carabao Cup. The Editorial team is headed by Deepak Selvan.