Manchester City prepare contract for €70 million defender – Summer move seriously ‘toyed’ with by Juventus star | OneFootball

Officials at Manchester City may be closing in on their first major arrival of an expectedly busy summer transfer window, according to new reports.

Off the back of what will no doubt go down as an underwhelming season across the board for Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering side, the expectation is that there will be wholesale changes within the club this summer.

Those alterations start in the boardroom position, with former Sporting CP director of football Hugo Viana due to replace Txiki Begiristain on a full-time basis in the summer when the latter calls time on a 12-season stay at the Etihad Stadium.

And among the huge tasks that awaits the 42-year-old Portuguese official is the challenge of replacing Kevin De Bruyne, after the club confirmed to the Belgian that they would not be renewing his contract and as such would be allowing him to leave in the summer.

But it appears as though Manchester City’s first arrival through the doors of the Etihad Stadium could come in the full-back position, with Italian media going into depth as to the conversations that have been ongoing over a target that first emerged during the winter.

According to the information of Tuttosport in Italy, as translated and relayed by Sport Witness, Manchester City will ‘definitely’ make an offer for Juventus full-back Andrea Cambiaso and have already drawn up a contract for the defender.

It is claimed that the 25-year-old would double his current salary by making a switch to the Etihad Stadium, with the Premier League club willing to offer a salary packet of €5 million per season in the upcoming summer.

As for the view taken by the player, the report states he had seriously ‘toyed’ with the idea of leaving the Old Lady for Manchester City earlier this year when he was struggling with an ankle problem.

And it also appears as though his price tag may have dropped since interest first emerged in January, as a deal can reportedly close for a fee between €60 million and €70 million, dropping from the €80 million price that was quoted earlier this year.

Cambiaso’s versatility across the full-back positions and his eye for an attacking pass will no doubt have caught the eye of club officials, who have leaned towards positional flexibility when it comes to their signings of recent seasons.

The likes of Josko Gvardiol, Nathan Ake, John Stones, Manuel Akanji, as well as recent January arrivals in Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis, are all viewed as players who can operate in both the centre of defence and at full-back.

However, with growing doubts over the futures of Stones in particular due to injury problems this season, there may be a belief within the club that a more traditional full-back is needed to allow for central defenders to move more into their own natural roles.