Pep Guardiola has admitted that Manchester City are in negotiations with “three or four” players as the Spaniard prepares to take his spending to over £300m for the summer.
Having been frustrated in his attempts to bring Dani Alves to City, with the former Barcelona right-back opting for a lucrative contract at PSG, Guardiola’s recent priority has been to address his defence.
City are closing in on signing Danilo from Real Madrid for £26.6m and retain a strong interest in Monaco’s left-back Benjamin Mendy, valued at £50m and also linked with Premier League champions Chelsea.
Despite Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger’s assertion that Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez will be staying with the club this summer, Guardiola is believed to be closely monitoring the sitauation with his contract due to expire next summer.
“We are talking with three or four players who have not joined us, we need that to refresh the players and rebuild a little bit more the club”, Guardiola told the Manchester Evening News
“We have targets and we are going to see what happens. Other clubs have a lot of players they want to sell, loan, it’s really difficult, but until the August 31 we have a chance. They are working to make the squad better for the next three, four, five or six seasons”, continued Guardiola.
Having completed the signings of goalkeeper Ederson, playmaker Bernardo Silva and Tottenham’s Kyle Walker, City have ruled out any possible sale of Sergio Aguero to Chelsea.