Manchester City have identified Roma’s Manu Koné as a potential target to strengthen further Enzo Maresca’s options in midfield.
While City have already bought Elliot Anderson for £116m and are closing in on the £85m signing of Lille’s Ayyoub Bouaddi, Maresca admires Koné for his dynamic mode of play. He would be expected to cost about £50m.
The 25-year-old impressed for France at the World Cup, playing five of their eight matches. France won all four of the games he started.
If signed, Koné would add elite-level experience to Maresca’s squad, which is now without Rodri after Spain’s World Cup-winning captain was sold to Barcelona for about £65m on Tuesday.
While Anderson was a first-choice alongside Declan Rice for England at the World Cup and made his Premier League debut for Newcastle in 2021, at 18 Bouaddi is still relatively inexperienced.
On Wednesday, another City midfielder departed when Tijjani Reijnders was sold to Al-Qadsiah in a deal worth about £51m after only one season at the club. While the Dutchman operates as a No 8, Nico González, who plays as a defensive midfielder, may also follow before the window closes on 1 September.
City are still expected to make an official bid for Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández, though they are thought to value him less than the west London club’s £120m asking price.
City’s busy summer also includes their continuing talks with Tottenham regarding the sale of Savinho and Omar Marmoush in a double deal worth about £150m. Savinho has previously been linked with Spurs, while Marmoush has now emerged as a target for Roberto De Zerbi.
No agreement has been reached but negotiations are understood to be progressing well for the Brazilian winger and the Egyptian forward, with De Zerbi believing each will add depth to his squad.