FC Porto reject €50 million transfer offer from Manchester City – Player ‘enthusiastic’ about Etihad Stadium move | OneFootball

Manchester City have seen an offer rejected by FC Porto for central midfielder Nico Gonzalez in the last few hours, according to reports from Portugal.

The Premier League champions are continuing their pursuit of a new central midfield signing this month despite just hours remaining in the winter market and having already spent north of £130 million on three new arrivals.

Abdukodir Khusanov’s move from RC Lens for a reported €40 million fee was very quickly followed by the arrival of fellow defensive talent Vitor Reis from Palmeiras, while Omar Marmoush surprised those in Germany by also completing a winter exit from the club.

But while the three new faces represents significant success in the club’s pursuit of a squad rebuild in 2025, there remains a clear desire to strengthen in central midfield particularly having endured major struggles in light of Rodri’s long-term injury absence.

And although there has been interest in the likes of Juventus’ Douglas Luiz on a short-term loan deal, as well as admiration in Atalanta’s Éderson, it appears as though the search has been firmly narrowed down to a talent in Portugal.

According to the information of Portuguese newspaper O Jogo, Manchester City have now made an offer of €50 million for FC Porto’s Nico González, which has been rejected despite the possibility remaining for the midfielder to leave the club before Monday night’s deadline.

From the side of the player, and after reports had indicated that personal terms would not be an issue in any negotiations, it is stated that the 23-year-old is ‘enthusiastic’ about the idea of ​​playing in England and with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

It is once again reminded that the player has a release clause at Porto worth €60 million, while his former club Barcelona are entitled to 40 per cent of the profits on the Portuguese side’s initial €8.4 million investment.

An interesting element of that sell-on clause however is that FC Porto can reduce it to 20 per cent if they were to pay a €6 million fee to the La Liga side, while representative agency Gestifute are entitled to 10 per cent commission on a deal.

For now, it remains to be seen just how much further Manchester City will take negotiations, although there is a clear awareness from within the club that a new name is needed in the centre of the park immediately.

It may even be stressed further to club officials after they realised their fate in European competition this season, and any new reinforcement would be able to feature against Real Madrid over the two-legs if registered in City’s updated squad list.

Pep Guardiola is expected to give serious consideration to selecting Rodri in his Champions League list, just in case the club reach the final stages of the tournament and the Spaniard’s slim chances of featuring again this season are realised.