Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola’s summer spending is far from over, as he intends on taking his total output beyond the £100m mark.
The Spanish tactician has already signed two marquee names in Nolito and Ilkay Gundogan this summer, but that is merely just the start of things to come.
According to The Guardian, the City coach is closing in on deals for Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus and Marlos Moreno, as reaffirmed by Manchester Evening News editor James Robson below.
City confident they’ll land Sane and Jesus. Close to breakthrough on Sane price. Jesus ‘very’ close
— James Robson (@JamesRobsonMEN) July 26, 2016
Currently, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss total spend stands at £36.5m, with Gundogan, Nolito and Oleksandr Zinchenko being added to his squad.
The Guardian go on to add that Schalke want £41.8m for Sane, which in turn will make him the most expensive summer signing of the bunch by a significant distance.
Elsewhere, Jesus is valued at around £26 by his current club Palmeiras, while Moreno has reportedly agreed to a move to City for a fee in the region of £8m.
In turn, City are expected to negotiate some of the fees involved and look to reach compromises with the respective clubs. Based on the figures offered in the report, that should take their total spending to £103.8m by the time the transfer window closes, provided Guardiola doesn’t move to add more personnel in the next few weeks.
As noted by The Guardian, John Stones also remains on City’s radar, but a deal for the Everton defender is still some way off at this stage and hasn’t been factored into their report.
There’s no denying that City needed investment in the squad this summer, not least because of their disappointing campaign last season which included a fourth-place finish in the Premier League, but in order to give Guardiola the resources to build his own team.
His style of play and direction for his teams are well documented, and City will certainly hope that this initial period of spending is fruitful this season as they look to build the foundations of a long and successful partnership with the Spaniard.