Manchester City look set to seal the transfer of Barcelona goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen in a somewhat surprise emergency move for January, according to latest reports in Spain.
In a slightly confusing piece, Don Balon claim in their headline that Guardiola has paid ‘the clause’ in a bid to bring Cillessen to the Etihad Stadium.
It is not, however, mentioned in the piece how much this clause is or whether or not Guardiola has actually already instructed City to trigger it.
All La Liga players are required to have a buy-out clause, but these are often very high as clubs hope to avoid anyone realistically being able to afford their best players.
This has backfired for Barcelona in the past, however, with Paris Saint-Germain famously buying out Neymar’s contract last season in a move that stunned world football.
As for City, Don Balon note that Guardiola is keen on Cillessen to provide some competition for Ederson after the long-term injury sustained by backup shot-stopper Claudio Bravo earlier this season.
The Dutch shot-stopper is only a backup at Barca right now, so it might make sense that he’d want a move, though he would surely therefore pick a club where he’d be more likely to play often.
Much about this report seems questionable and unclear, but it might be worth keeping an eye on City and goalkeepers this January, while Cillessen does also seem like a player who could be on the move in order to boost his playing time.
As Don Balon note, big clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool and AC Milan were all interested in the former Ajax ‘keeper in the summer.