Manchester City look to continue their summer spending as Pep Guardiola eyes Kyle Walker and Marquinhos

City have already added Bernardo Silva to their ranks and are close to signing goalkeeper Ederson Moraes

Miguel Delaney
Chief Football Writer
Monday 29 May 2017 20:39 BST
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Kyle Walker is understood to have fallen out with Mauricio Pochettino
Kyle Walker is understood to have fallen out with Mauricio Pochettino (Getty)

Manchester City are aiming to continue their blistering start to the summer transfer market by adding the signings of Tottenham Hotspur’s Kyle Walker and one of Athletic Bilbao’s Aymeric Laporte or Paris Saint-Germain’s Marquinhos to the purchases of Benfica’s Ederson Moraes and Monaco’s Bernardo Silva.

City have already bought Silva from Monaco for a deal worth £43m and are expected to complete the £34.9m purchase of the highly-rated 23-year-old goalkeeper Ederson this week, with the 23-year-old Brazilian international scheduled to complete a medical in the next 24 hours.

Having been frustrated with how long it has taken some of the City players to fully grasp his ideas, manager Pep Guardiola has been planning for this summer with director of football Txiki Begiristain since November, explaining the speed that City are operating with.

The Catalan has been especially concentrating on the defensive dimensions of his team, which conceded 39 goals in 38 league games this season, and wants to continue what will almost represent a total overhaul of his back-line with the signings of two new full-backs in Walker and Mendy.

Walker fell out of favour at Tottenham Hotspur towards the end of the season after clashing with manager Mauricio Pochettino. It’s understood Walker’s early interest in City’s approaches prompted the fall-out.

The 27-year-old can expect to double his £70,000-a-week wage at the Etihad, although there hasn’t yet been an official bid.

City want to complete the signing of Mendy before that and then move onto the pursuit of a centre-half.


 Bernardo Silva is City's first signing of the summer 
 (Getty)

Guardiola has a long-standing interest in the 23-year-old Laporte, while Marquinhos has grown into one of the most admired central defenders in Europe.

City will likely to have to pay a fee of above £50m for either one, especially since Laporte’s buy-out clause is set at £55m, likely taking their overall spending close to £300m this summer.

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