Manchester City seriously considering €50M swoop for ex-Real Madrid star amid Bayern Munich and PSG interest | OneFootball

Manchester City are seriously considering the possibility of signing Mario Gila from Lazio to bolster their centre-half options ahead of the 2025-26 campaign, as per a new report.

With the exception of Josko Gvardiol, Pep Guardiola has seen all of his centre-halves spend significant spells on the sidelines at various points of the campaign – which is set to leave him with the worst points finish of a league season in his managerial career.

City sit in sixth place in the Premier League table after their recent goalless draw away at Manchester United and with seven league games to play, it is all to play for starting on Saturday against Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium.

Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji, John Stones and Nathan Ake have all seen time on the treatment table this season and whilst Dias is in his prime and remains a reliable presence at the heart of Manchester City’s defence, it isn’t looking so good for the remaining trio.

It is believed that City will move on atleast one of Akanji, Stones and Ake in the summer transfer window as a ruthless first-team squad audit begins following Hugo Viana officially starting work this week.

Viana is taking over from Txiki Begiristain as sporting director in the summer and it is understood the Portuguese will pull no punches when it comes to assessing Guardiola’s current squad to challenge on all fronts next season.

Akanji, Ake and Stones have struggled for form and consistency this season, with the latter two more likely to leave should City feel they need to freshen up their backline further – after the January arrivals of Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis.

As reported by Gazzetta dello Sport, whose information has been relayed by Sport Witness, Manchester City are seriously considering the possibility of signing Mario Gila from Lazio to bolster their centre-back options in the summer.

City are said to be unfazed by a reported price tag of €50 million for Gila, with the 24-year-old Spaniard also attracting interest from Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain as well as former club Real Madrid, whom he left to join Lazio in the summer of 2022.

Lazio have been reported to hold an interest in signing new Manchester City signing Claudio Echeverri on loan for the upcoming campaign – and it could well happen that the Premier League champions look to include Gila in a package deal that could see their teenage Argentine sensation experience regular first-team football in the Serie A.