Two Manchester City stars prioritised for new contracts | OneFootball

Hugo Viana and his Manchester City colleagues are prioritising new contracts for two of Pep Guardiola’s most prominent first-team stars, according to reports.

The new directive from within the Etihad Stadium offices comes off the back of an aggressive recruitment drive in the build-up to the FIFA Club World Cup, with four new signings completed by Hugo Viana by early-June.

Replacing long-standing third choice goalkeeper Scott Carson was Chelsea’s Marcus Bettinelli, accompanied by Wolves’ Rayan Ait-Nouri to bolster the defensive positions for Manchester City this summer.

Further forward and Tijjani Reijnders arrived from AC Milan with much-needed positional versatility and energy, while Rayan Cherki from Lyon brought creative vision and flair to the attacking midfield ranks.

But with Manchester City crashing out of the Club World Cup at the last-16 stage via a 3-4 defeat to Al Hilal after extra-time, the new focus from the organisation over the coming weeks will be on contractual reviews and outgoings from the first-team squad.

According to the initial reporting and information of MailSport’s Jack Gaughan, Manchester City are prioritising new contracts for defensive duo Ruben Dias and Rico Lewis, and discussions with the players’ representatives are set to open soon.

Additional reporting from Fabrizio Romano further detailed that new talks are now in fact underway between City officials and Rico Lewis over an improved and extended contract with the club.

It is emphasised that the highly-rated defender not only wants to stay at the Etihad Stadium, but is also viewed by his manager Pep Guardiola and director of football Hugo Viana as a key part of the club’s ongoing and future project.

The Bury-born defender’s Club World Cup campaign was far from what he would have hoped for, having received a straight red card and subsequent three-match ban from FIFA following a challenge on Wydad AC’s Samuel Obeng on matchday one of the group stage.

Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City stood in support of the 20-year-old, and the Academy graduate will no doubt be looking at the return to training and Premier League action in August as a fresh shot at getting his season off to the best-possible start.

It remains to be seen whether Manchester City officials will continue to go in search of a new right-back this summer, with admiration for Newcastle United’s Tino Livramento, particularly amid a show of faith in Lewis and fine performances of Matheus Nunes in the US this summer.