Man City transfer window 2015: £130m well spent for Citizens

Man City transfer news: Bale joins Pogba on shopping list

18 May

After a quiet few weeks in the transfer gossip columns, Manchester City have sprung to life in the last 24 hours with rumours swirling around the Etihad. According to the Daily Express, Yaya Toure is being eyed up by Chelsea with the Sky Blues likely to sell in order to "redesign their ageing squad".

And who have they got in their sights? The Express namechecks Paul Pogba and Wolfsburg's Kevin De Bruyne but The Sun drops a bombshell with the revelation that City are ready to nip in ahead of Manchester United to sign Gareth Bale. Speculation has been growing in recent weeks that United are poised to land the former Tottenham winger but the Sun contradicts the rumours, saying that "City owner Sheikh Mansour has given the green light" to the bid because he is desperate to see the club win back the Premier League title next season.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

As a result, adds the Sun, we can expect an "£80m bidding war" to commence in a few weeks as the two Manchester clubs slug it out over Bale.

Man City transfer news: £35m de Bruyne bid

15 May

Manchester City "have made further enquiries" over former Chelsea midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, who has flourished after moving to Wolfsburg, says the Daily Mail.

The Sky Blues have yet to table a formal offer says the paper but it's believed that the German club are demanding in the region of £40m for 23-year-old who quit Stamford Bridge in January 2014 and has since shone, scoring 17 goals and racking up 19 assists in the Bundesliga.

The Belgium international joined Wolfsburg in an £18m and though the Germans are demanding more than twice that figure, the Mail says the Sky Blues will look to part finance the deal by selling defender Karim Rekik to PSV Eindhoven.

Or could it be Stevan Jovetic on the way out? The Daily Mirror also links City with a move for De Bruyne but claims the asking price is a mere £35m and suggests that striker Jovetic could be the man to head in the opposite direction to help balance the books

Meanwhile, Steven Gerrard's final act as a Liverpool player could be to thwart City's efforts to sign Raheem Sterling, says the Manchester Evening News. The paper notes that Gerrard has urged 20-year-old Sterling to stick with the Reds, even though he has rejected a £100,000 a week Anfield deal.

"The danger for younger players is they want it all too soon and go to another club and just become a number," said Gerrard.

Man City transfer news: £35m for ex-Chelsea star, Toure to Inter

12 May

Manchester City "have made an approach" for Wolfsburg midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, but will face competition from Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain for the former Chelsea man's signature, says Talksport in an exclusive.

But City are reportedly determined to land the midfielder who has scored ten goals and claimed 19 assists since moving to Germany from Chelsea last year.

Patrick De Koster, the 23-year-old's agent, has been discussing the possible transfer of the £35m-rated Belgian with Talksport, saying: "I have a meeting with Klaus Allofs [Wolfsburg's sporting director] next week to find out what they want to do. I will know if they want to offer a Kevin a new deal or allow him to move."

Asked which clubs have expressed an interest in his client, De Koster said: "Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain have made informal contact with me, but there have been no official offers." And on the subject of where De Bruyne was likely to end up, the canny agent kept his cards close to his chest, revealing: "The choice is his."

Meanwhile the Daily Star says Inter Milan are "poised to start the bidding war" for Manchester City's Yaya Toure with a £10m offer. It's no secret the Ivorian midfielder is being linked with a move away from the Etihad this summer and it seems his former Sky Blues boss, Roberto Mancini, wants to be reunited with the player in Milan. According to the Star Inter "are willing to match his £220,000-a-week wages and offer him a coaching role at the club" once Toure hangs up his boots.

Man City transfer news: Toure to be replaced by £50m Pogba

28 April

Man City may be smarting after their local rivals pulled off the first big transfer coup of the summer, with Memphis Depay agreeing to join Man United next season, and there is more bad news for the Citizens, with Yaya Toure edging closer to the Etihad exit.

The dread news is carried by the Manchester Evening News which reports that Toure's agent Dmitri Seluk believes the midfield colossus is "90 per cent certain" to quit City this summer. In an interview with Sky Sports he claimed that Toure was intent on leaving, and added that three clubs are interested in his signature.

He is known to be a target for Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan and Juventus, if they lose the services of Paul Pogba. However, the MEN notes that the "statement has to be placed in the context that Seluk says the same thing almost every summer – it is his default bargaining position".

However, the Citizens already have a replacement in mind as the Daily Mirror says Sky Blues haven't given hope of landing Pogba and they are "ready to launch a bid in excess of £50m" for the player. The paper adds that City's owners are desperate to make a marquee signing this summer but to free up the funds to do so they will have to offload a number of their ailing squad, with Toure, Samir Nasri, Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic "set to be the fall-guys".

Man City transfer news: £30m Wilshere bid, but Icardi unlikely

28 April

Manchester City could find themselves at the centre of the Premier League transfer merry-go-round this summer, with rumours of deals with Liverpool and Arsenal.

The most striking rumour involves a £30m deal for Arsenal and England midfielder Jack Wilshere. The Daily Mirror reports that the deposed champions are planning a "huge squad overhaul" at the end of the season after a disappointing and trophyless campaign. It adds that top of the City wish-list is the injury-prone Arsenal midfielder, who hasn't started a match since November because of a dodgy ankle.

The paper says Wilshere is no longer seen as a talisman at the Emirates and after blotting his copybook by getting caught smoking and then losing his place in the first team, he could be allowed to leave.

News of the Wilshere deal comes after reports over the weekend that City were set to offload both James Milner and Stevan Jovetic to Liverpool.

However, City may nopt be so keen to offload Jovetic if they miss out on striker Mauro Icardi this summer, reports the Manchester Evening News. It says that the 22-year-old Argentina international is poised to sign a new deal with his current club Inter Milan, despite interest from the Etihad.

There's a also talk of an 'exclusive' at Goal.com, which reveals that Barcelona are zeroing in on Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte, undeterred by the 20-year-old's £30m release clause or the fact they are prohibited from buying new players until the start of 2016 because of a Uefa penalty for transfer market irregularities.

The news of Barcelona's interest will be a blow to Man City who have coveted the young centre-back for months but apparently the Catalan giants will pay Bilbao their asking price and bring him to the Camp Nou at the start of 2016 on a five year deal with an annual salary of just under £3m.