Manchester United lead City in sensational double swoop for Everton and Bayer Leverkusen stars | OneFootball

Manchester City are currently behind cross-town rivals Manchester United in a sensational double swoop for two of the most exciting names in European football.

It is the latest twist in a string of high-profile transfer rumours linking Manchester City with some of Europe’s biggest names, as Txiki Begiristain and his recruitment colleagues look to further improve Pep Guardiola’s playing squad for the forthcoming season.

At present, the 2024/25 campaign will be the Catalan’s final season in charge of Manchester City, however there is a clear intention from within the Etihad Stadium offices to extend his contractual agreement by at least another 12 months.

For now, City bosses will do all they can to ensure that his squad roster for next season is as strong as possible to compete for all available prizes, and that work has taken them to Everton and Bayer Leverkusen for potential new names.

However, for now a new report has pointed out that City remain behind their bitter rivals Manchester United when it comes to early progress in the hunt for two exciting new signings.

That is according to the information of Manchester City insider ‘Tolmie’s Hairdoo’ on X, who reports that United are currently ‘ahead’ of Etihad bosses on both Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite and Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong, ‘certainly in terms of registering concrete interest’.

It is further detailed that, on the subject of Frimpong, the former Manchester City Academy star has a £35 million release clause – active only until August – in his current Leverkusen agreement.

However, and unfortunately for Manchester United, it is claimed that should Manchester City make a move on Jeremie Frimpong this summer, then the player would have ‘no hesitation’ in returning to the Etihad Stadium.

Branthwaite has endured an excellent season so far for Sean Dyche’s Everton side, registering 37 appearances across all competitions so far and scoring three goals in the process; the latest being a mammoth strike in the Merseyside derby as part of defeating rivals Liverpool.

As for Jeremie Frimpong, the Dutch 23-year-old has been arguably the finest full-back in Germany’s top-flight, but largely in an offensive sense having scored a staggering 13 goals and provided a further 11 assists in his 40 cross-competition appearances.

Frimpong’s history with Manchester City extends back to the age of nine when he first joined the club, progressing through their youth ranks and going on to make regular appearances in both Premier League 2 and the UEFA Youth League.

In the summer transfer window of 2019, Frimpong would ultimately bring an end to his time with City by signing a four-year deal with Scottish Premier League giants Celtic, where he remained until the January market of 2021 when he joined Bayer Leverkusen.