Manchester City have the nigh-on impossible task of picking the right man to succeed Kevin De Bruyne.
Napoli are ready to sign De Bruyne as his time at City is set to come to an end after he makes his final appearance for Pep Guardiola’s men against Fulham next weekend.
Initially, it seemed like Florian Wirtz could have been the perfect candidate to emerge as the Belgian’s heir.
However, Manchester City chose not to sign Wirtz as they considered a deal to bring him to the Etihad Stadium too expensive.
Nottingham Forest set £70 million price tag for Man City target Morgan Gibbs-White
Alongside the German international, Morgan Gibbs-White has also been on City’s shortlist.
Manchester City are keen to sign Gibbs-White to replace De Bruyne — as the England international has emerged as one of the best players in the Premier League this season, with Thomas Tuchel being quoted by The Mirror as he dubbed him an “amazing character.”
Gibbs-White is expected to join Manchester City and the Daily Mail journalist Tom Collomosse has revealed that the 24-year-old’s head seems to have been turned by the interest from Pep Guardiola’s men: “Nuno Espirito Santo has definitely been frustrated at the constant noise around this, and alluded to it at a recent press conference. I’m not sure Pep Guardiola’s very public chat with Gibbs-White on the Wembley pitch after the FA Cup semi-final went down too well at Forest, either.
“I think Gibbs-White’s head has certainly been turned to an extent, but you can’t argue with his last couple of performances, even though he went eight games without a goal or an assist before his strike against Leicester earlier this month.”
While Nottingham Forest and their squad as a whole expect Gibbs-White to leave this summer, Manchester City will have to shell out a fee of £70 million to sign him.
“Gibbs-White looks like being a high-profile departure this summer and they will expect about £70 million for him, though Wolves will be due about 10 per cent of any profit as part of the deal that brought him to the City Ground. [Angelos] Marinakis is not an owner to bank the money and sit on his hands. Forest will undoubtedly reinvest and Gibbs-White, who the squad now fully expect will leave, will not be the only sale.”
Why Man City are desperate to sign Gibbs-White
De Bruyne cost Manchester City £54 million when he made the move to the Sky Blues in 2015.
While Gibbs-White is not the same calibre of player as the Belgian was even at VfL Wolfsburg, times have changed since then and inflation has meant fees like £70 million have become commonplace.
Manchester City are huge fans of Gibbs-White and there are three factors behind why they are keen to secure his services.
- Central midfield is a key position that Manchester City are aiming to bolster
- Gibbs-White is an alternative to Wirtz
- Manchester City intend to add a sense of energy to their midfield next season
As a result, from City’s point of view, they perhaps might not mind paying £16 million more than they did to sign De Bruyne to persuade Nottingham Forest to sell the former Wolves technician.
However, Gibbs-White’s addition could divide opinion as he could make the step up from playing for a mid-table side to one of the biggest clubs in the world next season.
