City Xtra
·5 November 2024
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Yahoo sportsCity Xtra
·5 November 2024
Premier League champions Manchester City are plotting a staggering double-raid on two of the Bundesliga’s leading clubs, according to a new report.
Transfer bosses at the Etihad Stadium are on the verge of overseeing a major rebuild at the club, with a number of key players experiencing a growing number of fitness problems, age catching up on others, and contractual situations causing concern.
Among the names to be approaching the tail-end of their respective stays at Manchester City are both Kyle Walker and Kevin De Bruyne. But with Rico Lewis excelling in the right-back role this season, club bosses may feel they are set for life beyond the veteran right-back in Walker.
As for De Bruyne, things are slightly more complex and Manchester City are likely to feel as though the Belgian is irreplaceable, given his outstanding individual attributes and consistent contributions to the club’s success over almost a decade.
But City will give things a go, and in doing so will look to move for some of European football’s very best operators in the attacking midfield position, and from the same division that De Bruyne was originally recruited from by Manchester City back in 2015.
According to the information of Football Insider’s Pete O’Rourke, Manchester City officials are lining up Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala and Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz as potential long-term replacements for Kevin De Bruyne.
It is further claimed that Musiala has been on Manchester City’s transfer radar for a long time, and the report quotes sources who state that the Premier League champions will do “everything they possibly can” to bring him to the Etihad Stadium.
As for Florian Wirtz, it is claimed that the fellow Germany international remains on City’s list of targets but is considered slightly less likely due to the interest from Bayern Munich.
Bayer Leverkusen could yet be a club that acts as the answer to Manchester City’s future hopes, with the club also understood to be admirers of Xabi Alonso following the Spanish coach’s mammoth achievements with the Bundesliga side.
However, as is the case with Florian Wirtz, it is widely believed that La Liga giants Real Madrid will also be interested in Alonso as they look to prepare themselves for life beyond 65-year-old Carlo Ancelotti.
A battle between Manchester City and Real Madrid would follow on from the two clubs’ best players competing for the illustrious Ballon d’Or award, with Rodri defeating competition from the likes of Dani Carvajal, Jude Bellingham, and Vinicius Jr.