Pep Guardiola told he’s taking $46M Man City transfer ‘risk’ by former Liverpool star
Man City manager Pep Guardiola.
Liverpool will hope to stave off Man City and Arsenal again next season in the Premier League title race. The former is set to seal a transfer deal worth around $46M.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been told he is taking a major transfer “risk” as the Etihad side looks to catch Premier League champion Liverpool next season.
After finishing 13 points behind the Reds in the standings, ending up third in the Premier League table and comfortably inside the Champions League places, Guardiola is hoping to oversee a substantial improvement next time around. He is thought to be close to appointing Jurgen Klopp’s former assistant, Pep Lijnders, to his coaching staff, and will be active in the transfer market too.
Having signed Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov in January, Manchester City is expected to go big again in the summer. And Wolves left-back Rayan Ait Nouri could become its first addition of the window.
According to The Athletic, a deal worth around $46 million (£34 million) has been agreed for the 24-year-old. Wolves has also lost Matheus Cunha, who has moved to Manchester United.
But former Liverpool midfielder Don Huchison is not impressed with the deal. Asked if he felt that it was a panicked move from Guardiola, the ex-West Ham United and Scotland star agreed.
“I think that’s a very good shout,” he replied. “They’ve been linked with Rayan Alt-Nouri, who is a player that I spotted down at Wolves probably three or four years ago in terms of being brilliant.
Rayan Ait-Nouri of Wolves
Rayan Ait-Nouri of Wolves
“But then over the years, his defensive qualities haven’t really shone through. He’s a very attacking wing-back, which doesn’t really suit Man City.
“They don’t really play with wing-backs, and that’s his best position. When I saw that one, that’s exactly what I thought. I think that there’s a risk that they’re going to rush through things again.
“Remember, they had a little panic window just gone, didn’t they? Christmas time when they spent about £200 million on a few players, and you thought that was quite rushed too.
Fanatics Official Sports Apparel — Liverpool
Fanatics Official Sports Apparel — Liverpool
“They’re gonna have to be really diligent in their work if they want to try and get the right signings for the Premier League and obviously the Club World Cup at the same time.”
Manchester City could have Ait Nouri on its books by the time it kicks off its Club World Cup campaign against the Moroccan side, Wydad Casablanca on Wednesday, June 18.
Liverpool.com says: Ait Nouri going for $46M seems like a pretty good deal for Manchester City. Amid the Reds’ pursuit of $60 million (£45 million) rated Milos Kerkez, that could provide some leverage in negotiations.
As the pair are both highly rated, with the Algerian having much more Premier League experience than the Hungarian, the price tags shouldn’t be that different.
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