Manchester City renew interest in Declan Rice and other transfer rumours

Manchester City have renewed their interest in signing West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice, according to a report.

Rice’s current contract is set to expire at the end of next season, meaning West Ham could look to cash in at the end of this campaign, although a deal will be very expensive, with David Moyes previously saying £100m would be cheap.

Man City have been linked with the midfielder in the past, however there has been more recent talk about him signing for Chelsea, who are said to be speaking about a deal, while Liverpool are also ‘really interested’.

According to a report from 90min, the Sky Blues have renewed their interest in the Englishman, who is expected to move on at the end of the campaign, in order to fulfil his ambition of winning trophies.

It is stated that City could look to sign the 24-year-old as a potential replacement for Ilkay Gundogan, whose future at the club is not guaranteed, while there are also doubts about Kalvin Phillips.

Elsewhere, Manchester City are reported to be ‘planning to open talks’ and reward Julian Alvarez with a new contract after the player’s performances so far this season.

Alvarez, 23, only penned a five-and-a-half year contract just over 12 months ago after the club completed the signing of the Argentina international from River Plate on that January’s transfer deadline day. After spending the rest of that season on loan in his homeland, Alvarez has enjoyed a productive first campaign playing for City to date.

The forward has scored nine goals in just shy of 30 appearances across all competitions for the club. At the World Cup in Qatar, another four were also added to that tally as part of Argentina’s triumph.

Alvarez may not be the only set for talks, as the Mirror also report that City will sit down with several other squad members after the end of this season. One of those named is club captain Ilkay Gundogan, who is out of contract this summer, but, as opposed to Alvarez, there is ‘reluctance’ to agree to what the 32-year-old wants, which is a two-year.

It is added that the midfielder is ‘attracting interest from Spain and Germany’, which tallies with reports coming from the Spanish daily sports newspaper Mundo Deportivo. They claim that Barcelona are in ‘frequent’ contact with the player’s entourage.

No pre-contract agreement exists at this stage, the club claim, but the publication’s sources admit that a free transfer this summer ‘is a very likely option’. Bernardo Silva, whose contract expires in two years’ time, is also described in the report as ‘the great Barca dream’ for the third straight summer, with the player’s intention to return to the Iberian Peninsula well-known.