Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has reportedly set his sights on his next big summer signing, with Benfica ace Alejandro Grimaldo on the radar.
The Spanish tactician has already seen the club officially confirm the signings of Bernardo Silva and Ederson for a combined total of £78m, as per Sky Sports, and the spending seems to be far from over.
One area that must be properly addressed before the start of next season is the full-back positions though, as not only were City arguably weak in that department last year, but following the decision to release Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna, Pablo Zabaleta and Jesus Navas, Guardiola will need to add new faces.
According to A Bola, Guardiola is set to swoop for Grimaldo to fill the left-back position, with City preparing a €35m bid for the 21-year-old.
It’s added that he does have a €60m release clause in his contract with Benfica, but ultimately the Premier League giants are confident of negotiating that figure down and aren’t willing to offer more than €35m to prise him away.
Grimaldo made 21 appearances last season for the Portuguese champions, scoring twice and providing five assists while also impressing from a defensive perspective too, with the two aspects arguably equally as important as each other in Guardiola’s system and style of play.
Having come through the ranks at Barcelona, he seems an ideal fit for the former Barca boss, but time will tell if an agreement can be reached on the fee and with several other left-backs linked with a move to the Etihad already this summer, it remains to be seen if it’s Grimaldo who gets the nod.