Manchester City have reportedly made one of their attackers available for sale this January, with fellow Premier League clubs said to be interested.
It follows the club’s £65m move for former Bournemouth man Antoine Semenyo, who has started each of the Sky Blues’ three games since joining the club.
That signing took their count of attackers who can play behind or around Erling Haaland to eight, with spaces limited in Pep Guardiola’s XI.
Fulham in pole position to make Manchester City signing
The Catalan coach is known to prefer a smaller squad to avoid creating disharmony among his players, so it stands to reason that one may need to make way for Semenyo.
Reports are now surfacing as to who that man could be, but there may be some haggling to be done over the price City want.
Not a bad way to score your first @premierleague goal! ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/JMkjuSBLX2January 13, 2024
According to transfers journalist David Ornstein in The Athletic, the Etihad Stadium outfit are open to selling young winger Oscar Bobb. The 22-year-old was a hot topic of conversation at the start of last season, but a leg break at the beginning of the campaign curtailed his season.
He started this term promisingly, making five Premier League starts, but between selection issues and fitness concerns, hasn’t played a league game since November.
Now with the addition of Semenyo, who favours the same right-wing berth as Bobb, his access to first-team minutes looks even more difficult.
City are said to be looking for around £30m, according to Ornstein, with interest from the Premier League, Germany and Portugal, but he is valued at just under £22m on Transfermarkt, meaning some work may be required to find a price that works for both parties.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Bobb is in talks with Fulham about a permanent switch to Craven Cottage, which could set the West Londoners back £35m.
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, now would be a good time to move for Bobb.
Not only is he competing for minutes against Semenyo, one of the league’s best forwards, he’s also got the likes of Jeremy Doku, Omar Marmoush, Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki for company.
That’s a lot of competition, and he’s undoubtedly the junior party in that circle, so a more prominent place elsewhere would likely suit his career now.
His price is also unlikely to rise from this point, with the amount of football he’s playing, so it’d be sensible for City to cash in now.
