Inter Milan set to beat Manchester City to signing of centre-back talent after plans for player revealed | OneFootball

Manchester City’s plans for highly-rated La Liga defender Juma Bah may have ultimately cost the club in the race to sign the teenager this month.

The 18-year-old had emerged as one of City’s many transfer targets for the ongoing January window over the last few weeks, with some pointing towards the club’s plans to develop the talent as a potential prominent figure for the club’s future.

Bah stood alongside the likes of Lens’ Abdukodir Khusanov and Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite as possible central defensive targets, with the latter certainly the most expensive of the trio and the most unlikely at the midway point of the season.

However, with a direct pathway into Pep Guardiola’s first-team set-up and starting line-up the most unlikely for Juma Bah when it comes to the aforementioned trio, City had seemingly put forward a plan that would have seen a couple of loan exits sanctioned for the teenager.

And it is that plan that may have now cost the club in their pursuit of the Sierra Leone defender, with one of Italy’s most prominent sides looking to take ultimate advantage of the situation in the coming weeks.

That is according to the information of journalist Alan Nixon, who reports that City are now set to lose out on highly-rated centre-back Juma Bah to Serie A giants Inter Milan, due in large part to the player not liking the Premier League champions’ plan to loan him out twice.

It is claimed that City were suggesting to send the 18-year-old back to Real Valladolid in Spain, where he is currently plying his trade on loan from Sierra Leone side AIK Freetong, upon securing a deal for the signature.

However, temporary moves away from the Etihad Stadium would not stop there, with it also suggested that City planned to send Bah to a Premier League rival for a season, subsequently leaving Inter with the chance to complete a different offer in a deal worth up to £12 million.

A failure to sign Bah may not be as damaging as it first seems though, with Manchester City continuing in their pursuit of Abdukodir Khusanov over the course of the January market, with the player having arguably higher-level experience within the game.

A deal between Lens and the Premier League champions is far from completion however, and recent reports have indicated that an agreement for the Uzbekistan centre-back could reach as high as €40 million.

Super agent Jorge Mendes has been issued with a mandate by the Ligue 1 side to find a deal for the club over Khusanov, who has attracted attention from Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur, while Real Madrid have also been tipped as admirers of the player.