Pep Guardiola eyeing Man City transfer swoop for £52m left-footed “phenomenon” and more transfer rumours

Manchester City are reportedly eyeing a potential transfer swoop for Inter Milan defender Alessandro Bastoni.

The transfer saga involving Bastoni, described as a “phenomenon” by Italian football expert Conor Clancy, stretches back into the summer, when his current team were deemed to value the centre-back at around £52m.

According to a recent report from Fcinternews.it, City have Bastoni as one of their four or five defensive options in terms of a potential future transfer move.

The report states that Inter are desperate to tie the 23-year-old down to terms beyond the 2024 expiry date of his current contract. That’s not because they fear an approach from Tottenham Hotspur – a club linked with the defender a lot in recent times – but because they believe City could make a move.

The report also adds that Pep Guardiola sees the Inter Milan defender as an ideal profile for his side and how he wants his team to play.

Although Bastoni is a quality player, there seems little chance City would try to sign him unless they offloaded at least one of their five current centre-backs first. Guardiola’s preference is to have four central defenders in his squad, but this season he has Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, Nathan Ake, John Stones and Manuel Akanji.

All have more than proved their worth in a City shirt, so it would be interesting to see which would leave should City decide to bring in Bastoni.

Elsewhere, Manchester City have reportedly submitted an offer of a new contract to midfielder Bernardo Silva.

The Portugal international’s future has been the subject of much speculation since it was confirmed that he was looking to leave the club last summer.

Silva ultimately stayed put at the Etihad to help Man City win their sixth Premier League title, and he remains under contract with the English champions until 2025.

Pep Guardiola admitted in 2021 that Silva was hoping to secure a move elsewhere, but Football Insider now claims that the opposite could occur as Man City try to sign him to a new deal.

The former Monaco man is reportedly viewed as an integral part of the club’s future under Guardiola, who extended his own deal until 2025 earlier this month.

City are supposedly hopeful that Guardiola’s new contract will sway players whose situations are more uncertain, and Silva’s is now seen as the priority.