Florian Wirtz’s midfield teammate added to Manchester City transfer shortlist for summer window | OneFootball

Manchester City have reportedly turned towards one of Florian Wirtz’s midfield teammates at Bayer Leverkusen as a potential transfer target this summer.

The Premier League champions are due to undergo a significant revamp of their first-team squad options this summer, coinciding with the arrival of a new sporting director to replace the long-standing Txiki Begiristain.

After 12 seasons working on Manchester City squads, Sporting’s Hugo Viana will take on the position full-time in the summer, and will immediately be charged with ensuring Pep Guardiola has a squad at his disposal to challenge for the biggest honours once again.

One of the positions that is expected to be at the very forefront of decision making by club officials is the central midfield ranks, with Kevin De Bruyne’s confirmed exit for the summer adding to the thought process and required investment.

And while much of the attention has centred around the likes of Florian Wirtz in recent weeks, with that line of reporting unlikely to conclude any time soon, it is one of the German’s Bayer Leverkusen teammates that now finds himself tied to Manchester City interest in the media.

According to the information of South American news outlet El Intransigente, as translated and relayed by Sport Witness, Pep Guardiola and City have Leverkusen’s Argentina international midfielder Exequiel Palacios among their targets for the summer.

It is explained that the 26-year-old’s profile meets the requirements of a player that Manchester City are looking for in the upcoming transfer market, although any deal will not be easy to agree upon.

The report states that for Manchester City to sign the player, who remains contracted at Leverkusen until the summer of 2028, they would have to make an offer that ‘reflects his market value’ – with that amount not detailed in the report.

Interestingly, Leverkusen club officials are understood to have been present at the City Football Academy facilities during the last week in a planned visit that will no doubt have seen a number of names brought up in conversation.

Manchester City may find themselves having plenty of leverage should they come to the negotiating table for any of Bayer Leverkusen’s stars, with the Bundesliga club believed to be interested in both James McAtee and Stefan Ortega Moreno.

For now it remains to be seen just how many new faces Manchester City will look to bring into their central midfield positions, and whether further names will be following De Bruyne out of the exit doors come the end of the season and into the summer market.