Manchester City face Bournemouth transfer battle over Finland talent Matias Siltanen | OneFootball

Premier League champions Manchester City are facing a transfer battle from within the same league over one of Finland’s emerging talents, according to new reports.

Etihad Stadium officials are hard at work this month both in terms of immediate recruits for Pep Guardiola’s squad and longer-term development profiles to coach further towards the first-team Etihad Stadium squad.

While the likes of Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov are expected to join Manchester City immediately for first-team action, there is also interest in Sierra Leone youngster Juma Bah as more of a player for the future.

And that search has now extended deeper into European football, with a new report suggesting that City scouts have taken a close interest in one of Finland’s most exciting young names at present.

That is according to the information of Finnish newspaper Savon Sanomat, as relayed by Fotboll Transfers, who report that Kuopion Palloseura’s central midfield talent Matias Siltanen is now on the radar of Premier League duo AFC Bournemouth and Manchester City.

As translated by Sport Witness, it is claimed that the Cherries have already tabled a ‘formal offer’ to sign the 17-year-old, while Swedish side Djurgårdens IF Fotboll and Norway’s Fredrikstad FK have also tabled bids.

As for the movements currently made by Manchester City, it is claimed that the Premier League champions have sent scouts to follow the Finland Under-19 international, leaving the player’s agent to wait and see if Etihad Stadium officials will send a proposal.

The report claims Kuopion Palloseura are demanding a fee of €1 million for the teenager, in a valuation that is unlikely to be problematic for either of the two Premier League sides linked with his services.

The teenager graduated from his current club’s youth academy system before making his way into their first-team picture in 2023, going on to endure over 3,300 minutes of action across 43 games.

For now, it remains to be seen what Manchester City would have in mind for the player should they manage to beat competition across Europe to his signature in the coming days and weeks, or perhaps months depending on the intent.

City are familiar with developing Finnish talent, with left-back starlet Tomas Galvez recruited from Watford’s Academy system in 2021, before moving into senior men’s football this season through loan deals at LASK in Austria and SC Cambuur in the Netherlands.