‘Huge price’ set by Man City for Barcelona target as Marc Cucurella transfer ‘question’ raised

The transfer market officially opens on Monday and it should be a busy window for Manchester City.

Despite finishing first last season, Pep Guardiola’s squad ended the campaign looking a little threadbare.

That will be helped by the imminent arrivals of Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez, but the Blues will be impacted by the departure of club captain Fernandinho.

There are also a plethora of reports linking stars such as Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Gundogan with moves away from the Etihad, and we’ve rounded up the latest transfer stories surrounding City…

Barca keen on Silva

As per Fabrizio Romano, Barcelona manager Xavi is a ‘big fan’ of Bernardo Silva.

The in-the-know journalist tweeted to say that in a meeting between the club and Silva’s agent, the City midfielder’s name had been mentioned as a possible target.

However, he added City ‘will set a huge price tag’ for the Portugal international and a deal could only be completed if Frenkie De Jong leaves Barcelona this summer.

Silva was also asked about his future on Thursday, but refused to be drawn on the matter. “Unfortunately, I won’t be able to answer because I’m at the service of the national team and super focused on the game that remains,” he told O Jogo. “When the season ends, we’ll see what happens."

Do City need a left-back?

One player City have been consistently linked with in recent weeks is Marc Cucurella. The Brighton & Hove Albion Albion defender could come in and provide some much-needed cover at left-back, a position centre-back Nathan Ake often was forced to occupy last term.

However, the Manchester Evening News report there are ‘internal questions’ being raised about whether the club do indeed need to strengthen in that position.

They also added City identified Kalvin Phillips as their first-choice target in midfield ahead of Frenkie de Jong and Sporting Lisbon’s Mattheus Nunes.

Jesus in demand

Gabriel Jesus has been linked with the exit door more than any other City first-team player in recent weeks.

The latest reports had suggested Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid were interested in signing the Brazilian.

However, 90min claim AC Milan have also entered the race and that a decision on Jesus’s future will be made in the next week.