Manchester City are planning to table a bid for Porto midfielder William Carvalho this summer. It is expected that Pep Guardiola will add a significant number of player this summer as he will look to keep his first trophyless season behind as a manager and will want to move forward towards the next season. The Sky Blues are in the Champions League once again and the Spanish gaffer is reportedly eyeing Carvalho’s teammate Gelson Martins as well.
The English giants are ready to cough up a hefty £63m but it is said that the Portuguese club will demand a staggering £80m for the pair. Porto president Bruno de Carvalho values the defensive midfielder Carvalho, at £43m and will try to push up of the quoted price as much as he can.
Despite investing heavily in the squad, last summer Pep failed to grab any silverware in his maiden season and will be adamant to go for the kill, the next season. Yaya Toure’s contract is going to expire in a month’s time and the player has remained tight-lipped about his future. Though Pep could hand him a new deal, the player might enforce a move elsewhere if he is not guaranteed of enough first team game time.
Pep has the experience of working with new talents and he has earned success with them in the past. He signed Leroy Sane, JohnStones and Gabriel Jesus since his arrival at the Etihad and all of them have had a decent impact on City’s season.
Ilkay Gundogan is currently one of the best in this holding midfield position but his return is yet to be finalised while Fernandinho has been phased out to the right back position. It is very difficult to bench an in form player like Fernandinho so Guardiola had to find some way to fit him into the team.
Carvalho had a fruitful outing with Porto as he has appeared 32 times in the Liga NOS and has racked up two goals. The Portuguese midfielder has become one of the hottest properties in the transfer market and he also helped his country to win their first major title when Portugal were crowned the Euro Champions last year.
Guardiola will love to have someone of his quality who will be able to boss the midfield and will be an assurance in front of the defensive set up. But he is also wanted by a number of other clubs and City have to move quickly for his signature.
