Barcelona youngster Marc Cucurella is reportedly a target in the summer transfer market for Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.
The 18-year-old is a left-back, and he’ll be out of contract at the end of the season with negotiations continuing to stall, and therefore there has been a failure to reach an agreement as of yet.
According to The Mirror, this is where Guardiola seemingly intends to swoop in and take advantage of the situation as he looks to make key additions to his squad this summer.
First and foremost, the Spanish tactician will have to continue to reduce the average age of the squad by replacing his older statesmen with young blood. Further, Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy are all out of contract at the end of the season and so need replacing.
While Guardiola will undoubtedly be given plenty of money to spend this summer, he will have to manage his budget wisely and given his eye for a top young talent along with the obvious connections at Barca, it seems as though Cucurella could be one of the more astute signings he makes ahead of next season.
The Mirror add that Dortmund will provide competition for his signature as Thomas Tuchel continues to build his own young and exciting squad, but surely the appeal of playing for Guardiola and in the Premier League will be too much for Cucurella to ignore if he does indeed opt to quit the Catalan giants and move on.
Guardiola has experienced a tough first season in England, but with the right additions to continue to build a squad capable of carrying out his instructions and ideas, he’ll hope that this summer will be a major turning point in his tenure.