Fabrizio Romano reveals Manchester City will advance for Kevin De Bruyne replacement in May | OneFootball

Manchester City are set to step up their pursuit of Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White in the coming weeks as they look to secure a deal with their FA Cup semi-final opponents and bring in their first summer signing, Fabrizio Romano has revealed.

The 2023 treble winners have identified Gibbs-White as a capable addition to their attacking ranks as Pep Guardiola and incoming sporting director Hugo Viana plan for the upcoming departure of Kevin De Bruyne, who will leave Manchester City at the end of the season.

Gibbs-White featured against City in Forest’s 2-0 FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City at Wembley a few weeks ago as goals from Rico Lewis and Josko Gvardiol sunk Nuno Espirito Santo’s side to take Guardiola’s men to the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace.

It’s set to be a busy summer of incomings and outgoings at the Etihad Stadium as Manchester City plan to bring in four to five first-team additions, with the future(s) of several senior players in doubt as the season comes to a close.

De Bruyne’s departure opens a glaring hole of creativity in Manchester City’s midfield and the 33-year-old has, since announcing he will be leaving in the near future, expressed his disappointment over not being given a new contract at the Etihad Stadium.

City are serious in their attempts to sign Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen and have also identified Gibbs-White as a potent addition to their attacking options, with Forest believed to be demanding over £100 million for the England international.

£100 million is a figure Manchester City are highly unlikely to match for Gibbs-White and negotiations will be done amongst the suitor and seller clubs as the Blues look to begin their preparations for the 2025-26 campaign by acting fast in the transfer window.

Transfer insider Fabrizio Romano has reported on Sunday that City will make advancements in their pursuit of Gibbs-White in the weeks to come with an expectation that personal terms will not be difficult to agree upon with the 25-year-old.

However, there remains to be work done in agreeing a fee with Nottingham Forest for Gibbs-White as Manchester City look to build on their rich vein of recent form to finish the Premier League campaign on a strong note by guaranteeing qualification for next season’s UEFA Champions League.

Guardiola has a chance to add a silver lining to what has been arguably his poorest season in Manchester so far should Manchester City go on to beat Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final in two weeks’s time at Wembley.

City will also participate in the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States between June and July and have been given a 10-day window between June 1-10 by the Premier League to register new signings before they jet off to America for the tournament.