Pedri could be an ambitious signing that Man City could target in the final days of August.

Atletico Madrid have signed Julian Alvarez for £82m. It was an ambitious offer from the Spanish side for a player who had been under-appreciated at the Etihad. At 24, Alvarez had almost won his fair share of trophies and when the Madrid side came calling, he was ready to leave a stable club like Man City for a place that could give him first-team football.

 

 

As for Man City, Pep Guardiola said he hopes Alvarez can “find happiness” at his new club and probably won’t be looking for another striker to replace Alvarez, having brought in Savinho from Girona for £21m earlier in the summer.

The position that Pep will consider adding personnel in the rest of August could be in midfield when young talent Oscar Bobb is injured for a long time and remember they are likely to lose Kevin De Bruyne, who has received a lot of interest from Saudi Arabia in the context of his contract expiring next summer.

 

A report in Spain claims Pep ‘has not forgotten about Pedri and continues to see him as a very interesting signing for Man City’.

Pedri was said to be a big admirer of Pep, but president Joan Laporta blocked the move. ‘But now everything has changed completely after Xavi Hernández was sacked and Hans Flick was appointed as the new coach, who does not consider Pedri untouchable,’ the report claims.

Pedri is believed to no longer be the ‘untouchable’ player he once was and Barca are ready to sit down for talks over an €80m transfer as Flick now has Fermin Lopez, Frankie de Jong, Ilkay Gundogan and Dani Olmo as central midfield options.

It is worth mentioning that rookie Olmo, who replaced Pedri at EURO 2024, has brought momentum to Spain and was the main character in the recent European championship of the bullfighting team.

The report claims that Man City ‘will attempt to reduce the cost’ of the deal by ‘bundling’ Matheus Nunes into the swap. Nunes is considered ‘not suitable for Pep’s plans’.

 

Either The Citizens have to pay the full 80 million euros for the Spanish international, or assign another player that Flick finds more interesting.

The Catalans are thought to be keen on a winger, having fought all summer to sign Nico Williams from Athletic Bilbao, only to be turned down, and have recently considered a move for Liverpool star Luis Diaz.

In short, when Man City has ‘plenty’ of money, they can completely invest in the future. Pedri is only 21 years old. He can completely play at the top level at Man City for the next decade. This is probably a necessary link for the club when De Bruyne is on the other side of the career slope.