Pep Guardiola set to complete key €35m Man City signing on Friday, beats Chelsea to top target

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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has reportedly fended off Chelsea in the bid to land Real Madrid defender Danilo in a €35m deal this summer.

Both Premier League giants have been heavily linked with a swoop for the 26-year-old, despite the fact that they’ve already landed a defensive ace each in Kyle Walker and Antonio Rudiger.

Nevertheless, Guardiola looks set to welcome Danilo to City as Marca report that a move could become official as early as Friday while the Brazilian ace could make his debut for City next week during their pre-season tour.

It’s added that they’ll pay €30m initially with €5m in bonuses, while Danilo will put pen-to-paper on a five-year deal as he looks set for a fresh challenge.

Despite winning all there is to win at club level during his spell in the Spanish capital, Danilo is evidently ready to try and secure a more prominent role elsewhere. As mentioned above, it could prove to be tricky with Walker also at the Etihad now, but the pair will offer each other stiff competition as Guardiola was desperately short of options at full-back.

Having released Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna and Jesus Navas, that area of the squad needed to be addressed and it seemingly has been. It’s claimed by Marca that although Chelsea had appeared to be leading the race, Guardiola ended up convincing the Madrid man to choose Manchester instead.

Danilo made 55 appearances in all competitions in two seasons at the Bernabeu, while he’s got 15 caps for Brazil. Heading into the peak years of his career, he’ll hope to play regularly for club and country moving forward, but he must first establish himself as a starter in Guardiola’s side next season.

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