Manchester City hold tentative transfer interest in Aston Villa forward amid Omar Marmoush pursuit | OneFootball

Premier League champions Manchester City have held a ‘tentative interest’ in Aston Villa’s highly-rated attacker, Jhon Duran.

Etihad Stadium bosses are currently in the process of vastly altering their first-team squad this month having opted not to begin work on an overhaul of their options during the last summer transfer window following a decision made by manager Pep Guardiola.

The Manchester City boss revealed to reporters during his latest press conference, “The club thought about it (undergoing a rebuild of the first-team squad) and I said, ‘No, I don’t want to make any signings. I want to rely on the team, I want to stay with them’.”

Guardiola continued, “Just Savio came, Gundo back – it was unexpected. I rely a lot with these guys and thought still I can do it again with that guys. But after the injuries, ‘WOW! Maybe we should have done it’, but you never know.”

And as part of the work being done by officials behind the scenes this month, Manchester City are keen to add a new attacking profile to their options alongside the defensive reinforcements that have seemingly been agreed.

According to the information of The Independent’s Miguel Delaney, Manchester City have wanted a forward to join the club this month alongside at least two other signings, which now appear to be made up of centre-back duo, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis.

While Eintracht Frankfurt and Egypt star Omar Marmoush is clearly the priority target for the Premier League champions in attack, the report suggests that some believe ‘tentative interest’ in Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran could be strengthened if a deal was to fail for the 25-year-old.

Elsewhere, Manchester City are on the verge of bringing in two central defensive talents to the club, one of which is understood to be able to operate in a right-back role, amid a growing belief that Kyle Walker is headed for the exit door.

City have agreed a fee with Lens for Uzbek defender Abdukodir Khusanov, while 19-year-old talent Vitor Reis is expected to make the switch to the Etihad Stadium too, despite Palmeiras’ best efforts to retain the talent until after the summer’s FIFA Club World Cup.

In turn, Manchester City are expected to be open to facilitating an exit for their club captain Kyle Walker, after the 34-year-old submitted a formal request to the club last week over a desire to explore options and exit the club immediately.