by Manchester City have reportedly made a transfer promise to Pep Guardiola and could make a move for a Champions League defender.
City are likely to have another busy summer transfer window in 2023, with the midfield department the obvious area for attention with the futures of Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva uncertain.
However, according to Fichajes, City executives have promised Guardiola that they will target AC Milan attacker Rafael Leao next summer. In recent weeks Guardiola agreed to a new two-year contract at the Etihad Stadium, and City’s hierarchy reportedly gave assurances that they will back him in the transfer market.
Guardiola is said to be keen on Portuguese winger Leao, who has enjoyed an excellent start to the campaign with reigning Italian champions Milan. Although City are already stacked in attack, the poor form of Riyad Mahrez may convince Guardiola and City that they need to refresh things in attack.
Meanwhile, AC Milan’s neighbours Inter Milan are reportedly worried that City will make a move for their young centre-back Alessandro Bastoni.
According to FcInterNews (via Football Italia ), Inter are desperate to tie the 23-year-old down to terms beyond the 2024 expiry date of his current contract. That’s not because they fear an approach from Tottenham Hotspur – a club linked with the defender a lot in recent times – but because they believe City could make a move.
Although Bastoni is a quality player, there seems little chance City would try to sign him unless they offloaded at least one of their five current centre-backs first. Guardiola’s preference is to have four central defenders in his squad, but this season he has Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, Nathan Ake, John Stones and Manuel Akanji.
All have more than proved their worth in a City shirt, so it would be interesting to see which would leave should City decide to bring in Bastoni.
