Manchester City are closing in on a summer deal for Saul Niguez after edging past the Spanish giant, Barcelona in the race to sign the Atletico Madrid midfielder.
You will recall that recently, the City manager, Pep Guardiola lost the race to Barcelona when signing Frankie de Jong from Ajax, so he thought going for Saul, 24 will be a great move to replace Fernandinho. In January, De Jong turned down offers from Manchester City and Paris Saint-German to sign a pre-contract agreement with Barcelona ahead of the €75m summer move to Camp Nou.
Despite being able to capture the well-rated Netherlands international, Barcelona has also got their hands into going for Saul as they plan to reduce the average age of the players on Ernesto Valverde’s squad. However, it has come to the hearing of Barca that Man City also have their eye on the star and has already made bold steps to seal a deal for the Spain midfielder.
Saul’s representative made it known that the player had to leave Atletico has he is no longer comfortable staying there. There are also rumors that they have been having contact with Barcelona for the last few months.
Now that Atletico is out of the Champions League, out of Copa del Rey, and also 10 points behind the leaders in La Liga, the midfielder seems not to be seeing any future again at the Wanda Metropolitano.
For a long time, Barca has been a tie-up fan of Saul’s versatility. In 2013 when the club gave David Villa to Atletico, president Josep Maria Bartomeu made sure that the deal also included a first option on some players; the right-back Javier Manquillo (who is now in Newcastle), Koke and Saul.
Saul had open to make his move to Camp Nou but his people have informed him now that his final destination will be Manchester.
Saul is not the only one that had lost hope in the future of Atletico, the elimination of the club from the Champion’s League during their last match against Juventus where they suffered a 3-2 aggregate defeat has also put the future of most of the club’s key players on the line.
There are rumors from different sources and betting sites that for Atletico to survive the present turmoil, they may need to sell some players to raise funds in the summer which is the major reason Barcelona is going for Saul. While Atletico are still willing to hold out for around €120m, sources have revealed that they may be selling the player if they could get a fee of €80m.
After having spent almost two years in the search for a perfect replacement for the Brazil international, Fernandinho, who will be turning 34 by May, City are now ready to give everything they’ve got to win the race for Saul at the end of the season.
City did not only lose out on De Jong; they also couldn’t acquire their previous targets Jorginho and Fred who moved to Chelsea and Manchester United respectively.
While on international duty with Spain, Alvaro Morata; the Chelsea on-loan striker spoke some things about his Atletico teammate. He said, “Saul is not only young, but he is also one of the best players in his position. This is one reason everyone would love to have him. He is an asset for us here at Atletico and we wish we will be able to keep him because we need him.”
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