Manchester City to sanction season-long loan deal for centre-back | OneFootball

Etihad Stadium decision makers are set to sanction a season-long loan agreement for central defender Juma Bah in the next campaign, according to reports.

Manchester City are well stocked in the centre back area following the return of several players from injury in recent months and the January additions of Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis, who were brought in to alleviate Pep Guardiola’s dire personnel issues in defence.

John Stones, Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji and Ruben Dias all spent time on the sidelines over the course of Guardiola’s most challenging managerial campaign by his own admission, with Manchester City only managing a third-place Premier League finish.

Josko Gvardiol remained an ever-present figure in defence and was by far and away Manchester City’s best player last season, providing a solid makeshift option at left-back before joining forces with Dias at centre-half – his natural position – when Nico O’Reilly broke into the starting XI.

Hugo Viana has replaced Txiki Begiristain as director of football and Manchester City have completed four signings in time for the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States – ahead of their group-stage opener against Wydad AC.

Rayan Ait-Nouri, Marcus Bettinelli and Rayan Cherki were all unveiled as new signings on Tuesday and Tijjani Reijnders’ arrival will also be made official by the club on Wednesday, which provides Guardiola a huge boost for the Club World Cup.

In terms of outgoings, Kevin De Bruyne will complete a free transfer to Napoli next week and Scott Carson has also left – with Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish and Kalvin Phillips also among those who have been told to find new clubs.

John Stones has been strongly linked with a return to Goodison Park this summer after a worrying 12 months of injuries that have seen Guardiola lose faith in his 2016 summer signing, who played an instrumental role in Manchester City’s 2022-23 treble winning campaign.

According to the Daily Express’ Charlie Gordon, Manchester City are planning to arrange another loan deal for Juma Bah next season as part of his preparation for Guardiola’s first-team squad.

Despite spells with Real Valladolid and a six-month loan at Lens after arriving at City in the January transfer window, the report claims that Etihad officials believe the teenager is not yet ready to join the first-team squad and needs more time to develop.

As such, it is reported a host of clubs in Europe’s top five leagues are keen to take the central defender, while Lens want the player him back for another campaign, and Southampton are also in the mix after appointing former Lens boss Will Still as their new manager.

Interestingly, it is also pointed out that Dennis Mork – a representative of Juma Bah – posted a picture from Manchester on Monday during a trip which included discussions about options that would work best for all parties involved this summer.