Manchester City are being linked with an interest in rivalling Manchester United for the transfer of Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng this summer.
Pep Guardiola could reportedly be tempted to bring the Germany international back to City after working with him at the Allianz Arena, according to Bild, as translated by the Manchester Evening News.
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Boateng flopped in a spell at City earlier in his career but has since become regarded as one of the best central defenders in the world in a distinguished and trophy-laden career with Bayern and the German national team.
The report mentioned above states Bayern would now accept something in the region of £53million for the 29-year-old this summer, and that City are interested in adding another centre-back to their squad.
This could mean a battle between City and United for Boateng’s signature, with another Manchester Evening News report recently linking the Red Devils as potential suitors for the player.
That report also noted United’s move for Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld looked to have stalled due to his £70m asking price, so United could be in trouble if City beat them to Boateng, leaving them shorter of affordable options to improve what has been a problem position for some time at Old Trafford.
Despite recent signings of Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof, the former has had injury troubles at United while the latter has not lived up to expectations, meaning the club have still relied too much on below-par players like Chris Smalling and Phil Jones.