Manchester City great Rodney Marsh has told his former club they’d be better off signing Frenkie de Jong after failing to land Declan Rice.
City are looking to strengthen their midfield after club captain Ilkay Gundogan opted to join Barcelona when his contract expired last month.
The treble winners have added £25m midfielder Mateo Kovacic to Pep Guardiola’s squad, but the manager was keen to bring in West Ham star Declan Rice.
City had a £90m offer rejected by West Ham, with Arsenal now waiting to see if their £105m offer will be accepted.
The Blues pulled out of the race due to the spiralling cost, and are thought not to have a direct replacement for Rice in mind.
City told to focus on De Jong
However, former City striker Marsh has told his former club they should turn their attention to Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong.
Marsh – who joined City for a then-club record fee in 1972 and went on to score 47 goals in 150 games for the club – has described De Jong as “cheaper and better” than Rice.
Barcelona are said to want £90m for the Dutch international, less than West Ham wanted for Rice.
The Spanish giants have been open to selling De Jong in recent years, and last summer a move to Manchester United looked to be on the cards.
However, the 26-year-old rejected the proposals because he wished to remain at Camp Nou.
De Jong played 43 times last season as the Catalans won La Liga, but they were dumped out of the Europa League by United after crashing out of the Champions League at the group stage.
Guardiola has long been an admirer of the Dutchman, largely due to his incredible technical ability, range of passing and ability to play in both holding and central midfield.
Although De Jong didn’t want to move to Manchester last year, the prospect of joining a treble-winning team could prove more attractive.
