Man City want to sign £82m player as their Rodri replacement in January

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Manchester City could find themselves looking to sign a new midfielder in next month’s January transfer window.

In September, Rodri suffered a season-ending knee injury in what was his first league start of the campaign during the first half of City’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.

This then led to Guardiola suggesting City could sign a midfielder in next month’s January transfer window as a replacement for the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner.

Since then, City have been linked with various midfielders across Europe ahead of the upcoming winter transfer period.

In fact, a new name has emerged in what is seemingly a long list of potential midfield transfer targets for the Manchester club.

• READ MORE: Who is Rodri? Get to know Man City’s modest midfield maestro who won a Champions League final

Man City gathering data on Pepelu

According to a recent report from Football Transfers, City have “conducted data analysis and watched video footage of various matches” featuring Valencia midfielder Pepelu.

The report also add that the Spaniard has a release clause in his contract at the La Liga club worth a substantial fee of €100m (£82m).

Who is Pepelu?

After making his way through Levante’s youth ranks and making 92 senior appearances for the club, scoring 14 goals along the way, the 26-year-old joined Valencia during the 2023 summer transfer window.

Since then, the Spaniard has featured in 52 matches prior to Valencia’s La Liga match against Rayo Vallecano, bagging 10 goals and supplying three assists in the process.

Taking into account how City have only kept one clean sheet since the start of November, it’s clear that some defensive reinforcement is needed in January.

Therefore, if the club feel that the data and footage they’ve seen of Pepelu leads them to believe that he’d give Guardiola’s side what they need then they should do what they can to land a deal for him.