Morgan Gibbs-White deal hangs in balance as Manchester City hold finance concerns | OneFootball

Manchester City have reservations over the cost of a potential deal for Morgan Gibbs-White this summer, it has been revealed.

Gibbs-White has been identified as a potential addition to Pep Guardiola’s attacking midfield after a disappointing 2024/25 campaign, with incoming sporting director Hugo Viana spearheading a major squad revamp in the summer transfer window.

FIFA have allowed Manchester City to make and register new signings between June 1-10 to enable new arrivals to play in the Club World Cup in the United States, where Guardiola and co will compete before beginning preparations for the 2025-26 campaign.

Kevin De Bruyne is set to be confirmed as a Napoli player two months on from being told by the Manchester City board he does not feature in their plans next season, with the 33-year-old leaving the 2023 treble winners at the end of his contract.

Florian Wirtz was previously identified as Manchester City’s leading candidate to replace De Bruyne but Manchester City have pulled out of the race for the 22-year-old Germany international citing financial reasons.

The Blues are now pursuing a double swoop for Lyon’s Rayan Cherki and AC Milan’s Tijjani Reijnders after chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak outlined the club’s ambitions to announce all new signings planned in time for the Club World Cup.

Manchester City are also closing in on the signing of Wolves full-back Rayan Ait-Nouri after Kyle Walker was told to find a new club, with the 35-year-old defender out of contract at the Etihad Stadium next summer after a disastrous first half of the season in Manchester.

Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White has also been reliably reported to be featuring high on Manchester City’s wishlist, with the 25-year-old understood to be keen on joining forces with Guardiola and link up with his good friend Phil Foden.

According to the information of market insider Fabrizio Romano, with Cherki now a key target for Manchester City, it is revealed that Gibbs-White is still on the shortlist but currently considered ‘too expensive’.

The expected arrivals of Cherki and Reijnders for a combined sum that could reach £100-110 million would put into question whether Manchester City would advance their pursuit of Gibbs-White, who would warrant a fee in the region of £70 million this summer, with James McAtee also expected to leave permanently.

Ilkay Gundogan is set to stay at the Etihad Stadium into the new season although it remains to be seen what the coming months look like for Bernardo Silva, who is also out of contract next summer and has attracted interest from Portugal and Turkey – and has sought a permanent exit almost every summer since 2020.

De Bruyne’s departure and Foden’s slump last term coinciding is likely to see a significant part of Manchester City’s summer outlay being done to bolster Guardiola’s midfield, which received a huge personnel boost when Ballon d’Or holder Rodri returned to action in the penultimate Premier League game of the campaign after a seven-month ACL layoff.