Manchester City must decide whether to spend more than £50million on Porto midfielder Nico Gonzalez – a player they twice failed to sign when he was a schoolboy.
City have identified Gonzalez as the midfielder to fill the boots of Ballon d’Or winner Rodri while he recovers from the snapped cruciate that has sidelined him for the season. But Porto have informed the Premier League champions that the only way they will sell the 23-year-old is if his £50.15million buy-out clause is triggered in full.
The Portuguese club also want most of the money paid up front, as they will have to hand over a 40 percent cut of the fee to Barcelona as part of the deal that saw him leave the Catalan club in a £6.8m move in the summer of 2023. Porto have also just banked £45million after selling Brazilian winger Galeno to Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli and are under no financial pressure to cash in on Gonzalez.
Pep Guardiola has been aware of Gonzalez’s talents since he was aged 14. The midfielder is the son of Deportivo La Coruna legend Fran – and was invited to sign for City’s academy when his father joined Guardiola’s backroom staff in 2016.
Gonzalez opted to commit himself to Barcelona – but knocked City back again two years later when they offered him another chance to go to Manchester. Gonzalez said: “At the age of 16, I was able to go to Manchester City, but I always wanted to succeed with Barcelona – and I don’t think it went wrong.”
Gonzalez’s father was a key player in the Deportivo team that won the La Liga title in 2000 and also lifted the Copa del Rey twice as well as winning 16 caps for Spain. Fran revealed: “At 16, my son had impressive offers to go to the Premier League – he could have earned 10 times what Barcelona gave him.”
Gonzalez played 37 times for Barcelona before moving to Valencia on loan and then being sold to Porto. He scored the winning goal as Porto beat Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Gonzalez’s arrival would take City’s spending during the current transfer window through the £180m barrier. Guardiola’s squad has already been reinforced by the arrivals of Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis, while fellow new-boy Juma Bah has been sent on loan to Lens.
City have been significantly weaker by the absence of Rodri after he was injured last September. Ilkay Gundogan and Mateo Kovacic have been used as defensive shields but are both in their 30s and don’t have the physical capacity to give Guardiola what he demands.
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