City Transfer: Manchester City agree £20m fee for a young striker
Manchester City are yet to bring in any additions to their squad but are making progress with outgoings
Liam Delap is deciding whether to head to Ipswich or Southampton after Manchester City accepted an offer up to £20m from both Premier League newcomers.
Ipswich claimed an automatic promotion spot last season under former United coach Kieran McKenna and are looking to continue their momentum after the £20m signing of Omari Hutchison from Chelsea. Delap held talks with Ipswich last week at their training ground as he considers his next move.
Southampton have signed a number of City youngsters in recent years including Romeo Lavia, Shea Charles and Sam Edozie. Taylor Harwood-Bellis joined for £20m after helping them go up through the play-offs to bounce back to the Premier League at the first attempt, and they are now hoping that Delap will join the City old boys club at St Mary’s.
The initial fee is undisclosed as yet but the bids from both clubs are worth up to £20m for Delap with add-ons, including a 20 per cent sell-on and buyback clause. The 21-year-old showed his potential in a loan spell last season in the Championship with Hull City and is seen as a player that has the potential to play in the Premier League; he will now decide whether he will start the new season with Southampton or Ipswich.
City have banked over £150m in the past two seasons from homegrown talent and are seeing more sales this summer with Delap following Harwood-Bellis, Tommy Doyle at Wolves and Lewis Fiorini at Stockport. City also banked around £5m from a sell-on clause inserted into the deal taking Douglas Luiz to Aston Villa after the Brazilian midfielder completed a move to Juventus.
Pep Guardiola is yet to add to his squad this summer, although Savio is expected to sign from fellow City Football Group Troyes now that his participation with Brazil at the Copa America is over.
Micah Richards a pundit on Sky Sports looks on prior to the Premier League match between Manchester City and West Ham United at Etihad Stadium on M…
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Many Manchester City players have been in action during the current international tournaments taking place.
For the 2024 European Championship, 14 figures from Pep Guardiola’s ranks were selected to represent their countries in the tournament.
Having lifted another Premier League trophy at the end of last season, it comes as no surprise that so many names from the City squad have been in action over the past few weeks in Germany.
With five City players left in the tournament ahead of the semi-final round of fixtures, someone who knows what it takes to play for the Manchester club has shared his thoughts on one of those five players and what he’s done for his country in the tournament so far.
Rodri of Spain celebrates the win after the UEFA EURO 2024 quarter-final match between Spain and Germany at Stuttgart Arena on July 05, 2024 in Stu…
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Micah Richards says Rodri has played a key role for Spain
While assessing Spain’s journey in the Euros so far ahead of their semi-final clash against France, Micah Richards had this to say about Rodri, in particular, in a recent edition of The Rest Is Football.
He said: “I think it has been backed up by the midfield, though, Spain. Rodri, we have talked about him many times before, he is just a leader, controls, dictates the play.”
Rodri has been a key player for Spain at Euro 2024
Despite missing one of Spain’s five games of the tournament through suspension, the City star has still played more minutes than any other outfield player in the squad prior to tonight’s match against France.
Having completed more passes (327) than any other Spanish player, this backs up Richards’ point about Rodri, who Darren Bent said earlier this month has emulated Sergio Busquets’s role for Spain, being the one to control the game and dictate the tempo for his side.
Taking all of that into account, there can be no denying that Rodri is a vital player for Spain and their style of play, which shouldn’t be a surprise to any City supporter.
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