David Ornstein has said that Manchester City chose to sign Matheus Nunes ahead of Eberechi Eze.
The Manchester club recently announced the signing of Nunes in Wolves for a fee of £53m on a five-year deal.
When it was first reported that the Citizens were interested in signing the Portuguese midfielder, they were also being mentioned with a move for Eze from Crystal Palace.
Having now signed Nunes, one journalist has shed some light on why the treble winners went for the former Wolves star ahead of Eze.
Ornstein shares why City signed Nunes over Eze
Speaking in a recent episode of The Athletic Football Podcast, Ornstein had this to say regarding City’s interest in Nunes and Eze.
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He said: “On that same day reports emerged that they had a strong interest in Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace but for a number of reasons, Nunes was above Eze on the list.
“Perhaps Wolves’ financial situation, Crystal Palace, Eze is the best player there, they want to fight tooth and nail to keep hold of him and if he does go it will be for the highest possible price with time needed for a replacement.”
With the south London club apparently wanting £70m for Eze, this could be a big reason why City chose to go for Nunes at £53m instead, especially taking into account how the Citizens had already spent a significant amount of money on their earlier signings of the summer such as Mateo Kovacic, Josko Gvardiol and Jeremy Doku.
Also, with Pep Guardiola already having praised Nunes after seeing him in action for Sporting CP against City back in February 2022 when he called him one of the best players in the world, this also showcases why the club chose sign him ahead of the Palace star.
Moving forward, even though the treble winners chose to sign the Portuguese midfielder ahead of Eze, it’ll be interesting to see if the club reignites their interest in the Englishman at any point in the future and make a move for him.