Man City transfer news: Four depart in Deadline Day cull

Man City transfer news: Kompany out, Guardiola eyes Laporte

18 March

Pep Guardiola will offload injury-prone skipper in the summer and replace him with Bilbao man - latest Man City transfer news and gossip

Pep Guardiola could make a controversial start to his reign as Manchester City boss, by jettisoning the club's popular skipper in the summer. According to The Sun, the incoming boss has instructed club officials "to bring an end to Vincent Kompany's Manchester City career by placing the club's captain on the transfer market".

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The Belgian blocker has been plagued by injuries this season and limped out of City's Champions League clash against Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday after just four minutes with a recurrence of a calf problem. With his pace also on the wane, Kompany has allegedly been deemed surplus to requirements by Guardiola who, says the Sun, has "asked City to prioritise the purchase of Athletic Bilbao's France under-21 centre back Aymeric Laporte" as a replacement.

Additionally, by selling City's talismanic captain Guardiola intends to send a message to the City squad "that no one is guaranteed a place" when he arrives.

But there could be plenty of new arrivals at the Etihad this summer. The Manchester Evening News says that Real Madrid are preparing to offload City target Isco this summer, who could head to Manchester in a bid to kick start his career which has stalled at the Bernabeu.

The MEN also reports rumours among pundits that City are circling Juventus striker Alvaro Morata, and could try to bring him to the Etihad to provide reliable cover for Sergio Aguero.

Man City transfer news: Toure ultimatum, defenders wanted

17 March

It's that time of year when Yaya Toure starts making noises about leaving Manchester City and this time round his agent has got the ball rolling with what The Sun calls a "jaw-dropping" interview

Toure has a year left on his current £220,000-a-week deal and the Sun says it is "up to City's board and the fans to decide whether they want to keep him or not".

Aware of his client's predicament, Toure's agent Dimitry Seluk spoke to the Sun to put their side of the story. "In the next week we must find a solution about whether Yaya will prolong his contract with City or he will go to another club," explained Seluk.

"But if he leaves City it will surely not be for another English club... he does not want to play against City with another English club. How can he go to another English team and forget the love City fans have showed him?"

So where might Toure go if he does leave City? Seluk told the Sun they had recently been offered an eye-watering £20m by Chinese outfit Jiangsu Suning, but turned it down. "Yaya does not think about money," explained Seluk, "Yaya thinks about football."

Of course that is not entirely true, as the player also thinks about birthday cakes.

Meanwhile the latest player to be linked with a summer move to the Etihad is Athletic Bilbao's Aymeric Laporte. With question marks over Vincent Kompany's future following another injury setback on Tuesday evening, the Daily Express says that Pep Guardiola has told City's board to check out the availability of Laporte and Everton's John Stones, who has already been linked to City.

The Express says that the 21-year-old defender "has a £40m get-out clause at Bilbao" but if Guardiola does want to sign him he'll have to first see off Manchester United, who are also believed to be preparing a big summer bid for the France international.

Man City transfer news: will Guardiola poach Bayern stars?

16 March

Bayern Munich are growing increasingly concerned at rumours suggesting Pep Guardiola will be moving to Manchester at the end of the season with more than just the club's best wishes.

The Spaniard takes over the helm at the Etihad in the summer and according to the Daily Mirror Guardiola "has been warned about trying to poach" any of the stars once he's got his feet under the desk at City.

The German press has singled out David Alaba as "a prime target" with the 23-year-old Austrian international said to be a favourite of Guardiola's because of his ability to slot in at left-back, centre-half or in the midfield. He has two years to run on his existing deal and Bayern are worried that Alaba will be the first name on Guardiola's shopping list.

Talksport, on the other hand, claims that Franck Ribery is "a reported target" for Guardiola. The French winger has recently knocked back what the broadcaster describes as a "lucrative offer " from China but Ribery is said to be susceptible to an approach from City.

Now 32, Ribery does not have time on his side as he bids for one last hurrah and the wideman told German tabloid Bild that if he does move it will be for purely footballing reasons. "Money is not the most important thing for me. If I wanted more money, I should have left for China."

Man City transfer news: Sergio Aguero won't stay beyond 2018

11 March

Not only has he an eye for the goal, but Sky Blues sharpshooter Sergio Aguero also has an eye for the future, and the Argentine has been talking to broadcaster Independiente En La Uno about his plans once his current £150,000-a-week deal at the Etihad expires.

According to the Daily Star, which relays details of the conversation, the 27-year-old is adamant he will return to South America in 2018 with "boyhood club Independiente destined to sign him".

That will be a blow to City, who apparently want Aguero to sign a two-year extension so that he remains in Manchester until 2020. Pep Guardiola may try to get Aguero to change his mind, but the striker will not be listening.

"In the last few months a lot of things have been said about a new contract, but I didn't pay any attention," Aguero is quoted as saying. "It's clear to me that when my contract ends... I'm going to Independiente. Here at the club they are great with me, they always told me that they were open if the chance of a transfer arises. But where am I going to go in Europe? No, when I go, when my contract ends, I'm going to Argentina to play for El Rojo."

Man City transfer news: Guardiola eyes bid for Gundogan

09 March

Amsterdam was the venue for a recent meeting between Pep Guardiola and Manchester City's sporting director Txiki Begiristain, as the two plotted the club's summer transfers, according to the Daily Mail.

The paper claims that the pair met "to make plans ahead of next season", and top of the agenda was a bid for Borussia Dortmund playmaker Ilkay Gundogan.

Though the Germany international has been linked to Arsenal and Manchester United in recent months, it seems that Guardiola – who knows Gundogan well from his time coaching Bayern Munich – is determined to win the race to his signature.

Gundogan, who has six assists and three goals this season, is one of the most highly-regarded players in the Bundesliga, but he's out of contract in the summer when his current deal with Dortmund expires.

The Mail claims that he's in City's sights, though the Sky Blues will have to pay a lot more than the £4m Dortmund did when they signed him from Nuremberg in 2011.

Man City transfer news: Stones and Lewandowski are targets

07 March

A thumping 4-0 win over Aston Villa at the weekend has put a spring in the step in the City faithful and so a report in the Manchester Evening News, which claims incoming manager Pep Guardiola will bring in three big names to give the club a boost for next season's campaign.

According to the MEN, Guardiola has found time as he counts down the days in charge of Bayern to draw up a shortlist of star names and between now and the end of the season, he'll sit down with the City board and work out what their finances can afford.

The five players in question are the Barcelona duo of Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets, the young Everton defender John Stones, and the Bayern Munich pair of Robert Lewandowski and Manuel Neuer.

One player that City have gone cold on, however, is Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba, whose alleged wage demands are too much, even for the Sky Blues.

Meanwhile The Sun, while confirming John Stones is in Guardiola's sights, says Athletic Bilbao's Aymeric Laporte is the other name at the top of his shopping list. Apparently he wants to pair the French defender with Stones but he knows that the France Under-21 international is highly rated in Spain with "both Barcelona and Real Madrid hot on his heels".