If Manchester City can rake in £50million for Gabriel Jesus there will be a great deal of back-slapping satisfaction at the Etihad this summer.
Not only would that be top dollar for a striker that Pep Guardiola never seemed quite convinced by for all his warm words about work ethic and versatility. It would also enable the power brokers at the club to be able to point to the £51m fee they paid for Erling Haaland and claim a net spend of £1m.
Whether they can get it is another matter but reports are emerging that Spurs have opened the bidding £10m shy of what they are after. Mirror Sport round up all the latest transfer news and rumours.
Spurs lodge Jesus offer
Tottenham have opened the bidding for Arsenal target and City striker Jesus, according to TuttoJuve. The Italian outlet report that Antonio Conte and Spurs offered just over £40million for Manchester City striker Jesus, £10m short of what the Premier League champions believe he is worth. And while that bid is not likely to land the target it has fired a starting gun on the race for Jesus with a tug of war across north London now in the offing. This report follows a report in The Sun which claimed that Arsenal are willing to pay the Brazil international striker £190,000 per week as salary to convince him to move to the Emirates Stadium this summer.
Battle for Nunes
Guardiola is set to face competition from local neighbours United for the signature of Matheus Nunes according to newspaper Correio da Manha. The 23-year-old Sporting Lisbon midfielder has attracted the attention of Premier League sides with a namecheck from Guardiola prompting speculation he is on City’s radar. Putting two and two together to make five and with departures of several midfield options at United including Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard, Nunes has been put forward as a credible target for Erik ten Hag at Manchester United. City are in the market for a defensive midfielder to replace Fernandinho and act as back up to Rodri. Nunes, who is on Nations League duty with Portugal, is a box-to-box midfielder who would do the hard yards alongside Kevin De Bruyne.
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Phillips interest grows
Liverpool have joined the race to land England and Leeds midfielder Kalvin Phillips after seeing their pursuit of Barcelona midfielder Gavi hit the buffers, according to Metro. Guardiola is interested in bidding for Phillips as a replacement for Fernandinho. But Jurgen Klopp’s apparent failure to land his teenage target, with Gavi signing new terms with Barca, will see him join the face for the Leeds star. Phillips has two years left on his current contract at Elland Road and looks likely to move on this summer. And while Manchester United are admirers of the England international Phillips has ruled out a move to Leeds’ bitter rivals.
McAtee loan latest
England Under-21 boss Lee Carsley has given a glowing appraisal of highly-rated young City talent James McAtee. The midfielder, 19, received his first call up for the U21s ahead of their Euro 2023 qualifiers against Albania, Kosovo and Slovenia. And Carsley admitted he is excited by what he has seen so far. He said: “I was lucky to see him at City when I was there with the younger age groups. He’s one we’ve kept an eye on constantly. We really rate him highly. He can play anywhere; seven, 11, 10, nine, eight. He’s a good footballer.” The Young Lions are top of Group G after Friday’s 2-1 win in the Czech Republic and face Albania in Chesterfield on Tuesday.
McAtee made six substitute appearances for City last season and scored 18 goals in 23 under-23 games in Premier League 2. McAtee has been the subject of several inquiries about a possible loan move. But the Independent report Pep Guardiola wants him to follow the same path as Phil Foden and develop alongside the first team group.
