From Germany: Manchester City eyeing double Bundesliga midfield swoop to embark upon Pep Guardiola 5.0 | OneFootball

Manchester City are interested in signing Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz and Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Larsson in the summer, as per reports from Germany.

The four-in-a-row Premier League champions are set for a major summer exodus that could well see a change of guard in midfield following Manchester City’s struggles throughout this term.

Pep Guardiola’s side are currently in the race for UEFA Champions League qualifying places but are all but out of the Premier League title race as runaway leaders Liverpool appear destined for the crown in Arne Slot’s debut campaign in England.

There have been doubts rising over the long term future of Kevin De Bruyne in Manchester and having struggled for form and consistency in what has been a stop-start season for the Blues, the 33-year-old could be leaving Manchester City in the summer.

It would not be unfair to suggest that Ilkay Gundogan is no longer the player he was during and prior to City’s historic 2022/23 season, and it is understood that the German would agree to an amicable exit should City desire to move him on at the end of the season.

There are further question marks over the trio of Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva and Matheus Nunes and City’s incoming sporting director Hugo Viana has some tough calls to make in the summer as the club seek to rebuild and recruit fresh blood.

In the last few weeks, Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz has been identified as Manchester City’s priority signing in midfield and the Premier League champions will face stiff competition from the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich for the 21-year-old’s signature.

According to Germany’s SportBILD, whose information has been translated and relayed by Sport Witness, Pep Guardiola wants to build a new-look City side around Florian Wirtz and is pushing for the signing of one of Europe’s most highly-rated attacking midfielders.

Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Larsson has also reportedly been identified to be of keen interest to Manchester City, who expect several clubs across Europe to be vying for the Swede’s signing in the coming months.

Manchester City returned to winning ways with a narrow, yet convincing 0-1 beating of Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night and Pep Guardiola will likely be using the rest of the season to identify which of his current crop of players make the cut for the rebuild.

Next up for the club is an FA Cup fifth round clash with Plymouth Argyle at the Etihad Stadium, with England’s most prestigious knock-out competition viewed as a primary opportunity for Manchester City to claim silverware in a difficult season.