Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has given his ‘here we go’ confirmation with Man City set to complete a deal for Lyon attacking midfielder Rayan Cherki.
The Citizens have had a poor season by their standards with Pep Guardiola’s men never in the title race despite ending the season in third position.
It was touch and go for a while whether Man City would qualify for the Champions League but a 2-0 win over Fulham on the final day made sure.
Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Juma Bah all signed in the January transfer window as Man City looked to safeguard their position in the top five this season.
But Guardiola recently complained about a bloated squad and insisted that he would “quit” if Man City failed to streamline it in the summer transfer window.
As well as selling some of their current squad, the Citizens are keen to make a number of additions over the summer with two of those now getting closer.
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Man City are set to complete a deal to sign AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders for a fee in the region of €70m (£58.9m) with Romano revealing on Monday that an official club statement is expected anytime soon.
Romano said: ‘Tijjani Reijnders has signed his contract as new Manchester City player with official statement to follow next.’
While Romano also confirmed last week that Rayan Ait-Nouri would be moving to Man City from Wolves after an agreement was found between the clubs.
Romano said on Thursday: ‘Rayan Aït-Nouri to Manchester City, here we go! Agreement club to club done today for total fee close to €40m. Understand medical tests will take place on Saturday. The left back accepted City project earlier this week as revealed and medical will take place this weekend.’
After French newspaper L’Equipe first reported that an ‘agreement’ had been struck between Man City and Lyon over a deal for Cherki, Romano has now revealed that it’s also a ‘here we go’ done.
Romano wrote on X: ‘BREAKING: Rayan Cherki to Manchester City, here we go! Deal in place club to club after direct contact. Cherki will sign five year deal as #MCFC player, OL to receive €35m package with add-ons as L’Équipé reports. Documents being prepared in time for Club World Cup.’
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And the Daily Telegraph claim that a Chelsea player could be next in at the Etihad Stadium with the Citizens ‘ready to make a move’ for Marcus Bettinelli, who is the Blues’ third-choice goalkeeper.
Guardiola is looking to replace Scott Carson and Bettinelli ‘has been targeted as the right profile to support a goalkeeper stable led by Ederson’ and the stopper ‘would cost a small fee’.
Man City will look to trim their squad and Grealish is one player likely to leave with former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara insisting he should go back to Aston Villa.
O’Hara told Grosvenor Sport: “Jack Grealish’s time at Manchester City is up,” he said. “He’s already got one foot out the door and being left out of the Club World Cup squad by Pep Guardiola is the nail in the coffin for him.
“I think he should go back to Aston Villa; what’s stopping him? The fans loved him; he was a maverick and the starboy in their team. The club have missed out on Champions League next season, and Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio are both looking like they won’t be returning for another season. The perfect replacement for those two is Jack Grealish; I still believe he’s a top player.
“If he’s fit, he’s easily good enough to start for Villa, he’s a local lad and I don’t see a reason why they wouldn’t take him back – he’d cost a lot less than what Villa sold him to City for!”
