Man City and Barcelona are reportedly set for a transfer battle over the signing of Villarreal youngster Ivan Morante who is said to be valued at £6m.
While City face an uphill battle trying to defend their Premier League crown this season, they’ll hope that they can still land some more major trophies before the campaign is over as the remain in the hunt on multiple fronts.
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Their focus will switch to how they can improve the squad this summer though to come back stronger next year, and it appears as though they could be earmarking a long-term solution in midfield.
According to The Telegraph, City and Guardiola are keen on Morante, 19, but they face competition from Barcelona for the £6m-rated youngster.
In turn, it remains to be seen whether or not he would prefer to remain in Spain and make the big move to the Nou Camp, or if the appeal of testing himself in England under Guardiola’s stewardship is enough to convince him to take that route instead.
Having come through the ranks at Villarreal from their U19 side to the reserve team, he has also been capped from U17 to U20 level for Spain, and so that would suggest that he could have a bright future ahead of him.
With Man City and Barcelona linked with a move, that perhaps tells its own story about his potential too, and so it remains to be seen who wins this particular transfer scrap as Guardiola prepares to go up against his old club for a top talent.