Manchester City in danger of losing second major transfer target after Florian Wirtz | OneFootball

Manchester City are seeing Arsenal make a late attempt to sign Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest in the summer, as per a new report.

Pep Guardiola is eyeing four to five additions to his squad ahead of the 2025-26 campaign, with incoming sporting director Hugo Viana spearheading transfer dealings to get Manchester City back challenging on all fronts.

City have seen Liverpool take their long-held Premier League title crown this term and after crashing out of the UEFA Champions League at the Round of 16 stage at the hands of Real Madrid, there is work to do in the summer to bolster the squad ahead of the new season.

Florian Wirtz is closing in on a sensational transfer to Liverpool having agreed personal terms with the newly-crowned Premier League champions – a major blow for Manchester City as their number one target to replace the outgoing Kevin De Bruyne is close to joining their biggest title rivals.

Manchester City had marked Wirtz as their preferred replacement for De Bruyne and after months of preliminary talks with Bayer Leverkusen and what was reported to be a meeting between the Germany international’s family and club officials in England last week, the 2023 treble winners have pulled out of the race in the end.

The finances involved in the deal – which would have seen Manchester City incur a cost between €250-300 million over the duration of Wirtz’s contract at the Etihad Stadium – is understood to be a key reason for the club withdrawing interest in the 22-year-old.

However, Manchester City are working on a deal to sign Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest and Hugo Viana is believed to be confident of adding the England international to Guardiola’s ranks in the summer transfer window.

As per a new report by Football Insider, Arsenal are making a late approach to hijack Manchester City’s pursuit of Gibbs-White and tempt the attacking midfielder into joining forces with Mikel Arteta in north London.

Arsenal have secured a second-place Premier League finish ahead of the final matchday of the campaign and as Manchester City look for a point in their final game against Fulham, the Gunners present an alternative destination for the 25-year-old.

Gibbs-White holds a strong friendship with Manchester City forward Phil Foden and the opportunity to line up alongside Foden and working with Pep Guardiola is highly likely to see Gibbs-White seal a lucrative move from Forest to City in the coming months.