After an intense week of football action City’s Champions League exit has given rise to a clutch of ‘summer targets’ speculation stories in the media.
There’s no fewer than six players linked in Friday morning’s Media Watch, while there are also words from Mauricio Pochettino, boss of Saturday’s opponents Spurs.
First to the Times, where journalist Paul Hirst has offered this verdict on City’s transfer plans: “It is understood that Guardiola, the City manager, wants to sign a holding midfielder and a wide forward to provide competition for Leroy Sané, Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva.
“Among the midfield targets is Jorginho, the Napoli player. Guardiola praised Jorginho in the build-up to City’s group stage win over the Italian side earlier this season. Jorginho, who plays for Italy despite being born in Brazil, has also been linked with Manchester United.
“City are also monitoring Julian Weigl, the Borussia Dortmund midfielder who is valued at £40 million. Fred, the Shakhtar Donetsk player, was also of interest to City, but the likelihood of signing the Brazilian has decreased in recent weeks after the two clubs failed to agree a fee for the midfielder in January.”
Over at the Sun, City reporter Martin Blackburn adds: “He (Guardiola) has no plans to rip up his squad and start again — and will look to fine-tune with two key signings this summer.
“Guardiola aims to bring in a defensive midfielder as well as an attacking player who can play out wide or through the middle.
“In the last two windows they missed out on Alexis Sanchez and Riyad Mahrez.
“Leicester winger Mahrez could again come into consideration, while Leon Bailey of Bayer Leverkusen and Monaco’s Thomas Lemar are also options.”
READ:Spurs v Man City TV info
Highlights
Back to the here and now (well, tomorrow at least) and Spurs boss Pochettino has been speaking ahead of the first vs fourth Premier League clash at Wembley.
“I think it will be a fantastic game, for me the best team in England and that’s always a challenge,” he told the club’s official website.
“Every game is completely different, different competition, when you play against a consistent team like City, they deserve to be top because they are doing fantastic football and results, you never know.
