Manchester City are now giving serious consideration to meeting the asking price of an England international.
The club are on the verge of completing their biggest sale ever.
Earlier this week, a deal was agreed to sell Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid for up to £82 million.
That deal smashes the previous club record £50 million paid by Chelsea to sign Raheem Sterling, and the talk has been rife about who could come in as the replacement for Alvarez.
Pep Guardiola may well wish to look within. He has now made James McAtee a new first-team option, and Oscar Bobb could also play a greater role this coming season.
But someone else City could swoop for is Eberechi Eze.
Manchester City could swoop for Eberechi Eze to replace Julian Alvarez
Eberechi Eze is a player City have admired for quite a while now.
The club were linked with him last summer, but in the end they decided to make a move for Matheus Nunes from Wolves.
But Eze has remained on the club’s radar, and there is a chance now – with Alvarez leaving – that they could come calling again.
According to Football Transfers, City are ‘seriously considering’ a move for Eze and meeting his asking price. He is not someone who can really play as a striker like Alvarez, but he does take up positions in attacking midfield.
It is claimed that Eze has a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with Palace for him to leave for around £60 million this summer and City would be prepared to match that asking price.
If Eze can reach personal terms with another club, then he would expect that agreement to be honoured.
Tottenham Hotspur are also said to be in the mix for Eze, but have struggled to make progress on a deal and could turn their attention to Pedro Neto.
Amid the interest, Eze – whom Pep is said to not see as a right wing option – actually uploaded a picture of him and Phil Foden together on Instagram yesterday, seemingly from earlier this summer.
Eze would thrive at City
Eze has been a standout player at Palace for a couple of years now, and there is a very good chance he would fit right in at City.
The 26-year-old is technically superb, and can play in several different positions in attacking midfield and can also do a job out wide.
He cannot really play as a striker like Alvarez can. But Pep could potentially snap him up and use the likes of Foden or Kevin De Bruyne as a false nine in the event Erling Haaland is unavailable.
Eze’s upload on Instagram was interesting. It is a dump of holiday photos, but the fact he chose the one with Foden first was always going to lead to people talking.
We will see if City do act on their long-standing interest. But you will struggle to find a City supporter out there who wouldn’t be open to seeing such a talented player join.
