Man City willing to pay more than €80m for transfer of player who looks ideal for Guardiola’s philosophy

Originally posted on Caught Offside | By Mark Brus | Last updated 11/17/21

Manchester City are reportedly willing to pay big for the potential transfer of Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong.

The Netherlands international doesn’t seem the most obvious target for City right now after his recent dip in form, but he’s also shown in the past that he could be just the kind of midfielder who’d flourish in Pep Guardiola’s system.

According to Todo Fichajes, De Jong’s Barcelona future is now increasingly in doubt after failing to impress in recent times, but it seems City would still be ready to pay as much as €80million to bring him to the Etihad Stadium.

It will be interesting to see how this saga develops, but one imagines City might have a realistic chance of getting him for less than that unless his form improves in the near future.

Guardiola may well feel he can turn De Jong’s career around, and he’s a good enough manager to do it, but at the moment it seems a little hard to justify spending quite that much on this slightly out-of-form player.

City might do well to start thinking about making changes in midfield, however, as they’re sure to soon need long-term replacements for the likes of Fernandinho and Ilkay Gundogan.

This article first appeared on Caught Offside and was syndicated with permission.

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