Things have gone a little quiet for Manchester City on the transfer front.
No new senior signings have arrived at Manchester City since Tijjani Reijnders moved from AC Milan in a £46.5m deal on 11th June.
Sverre Nypan was signed from Rosenborg last week, but the Norwegian wonderkid is expected to spend the 2025/26 campaign on loan away from the Etihad Stadium.
However, some more rumours are now starting to emerge, including a story from RMC Sport which claims that Manchester City want to sign Jules Kounde from Barcelona.
It remains to be seen what happens, but if a deal does materialise, it would presumably delight Pep Guardiola following a phone call made back in 2019.
Pep Guardiola personally approached Jules Kounde
Speaking to El Pais back in September 2022, the France international revealed that the Spaniard attempted to lure him to Manchester City in 2019, during his first season with Sevilla.
Kounde said: “Yes, in my first year at Sevilla. He called me. He told me that he loved me and that he thought I would fit the way he played.”
Despite this chat, the man born in Paris opted to stay with Sevilla, until sealing a £42m move to Barcelona in July 2022.
Manchester City might have a chance at Jules Kounde deal
Fabrizio Romano believes Kounde will stay at Barcelona – and many feel Manchester City are simply being used to get the Frenchman a new contract – although financial restrictions at the Camp Nou mean anything is possible.
The BBC explain that Barcelona are still unsure whether they can even register the signing of Marcus Rashford on loan, having already exceeded their salary limit in La Liga – this is the reason Nico Williams rejected a move to the Spanish giants this summer.
Therefore, it remains to be seen how simple it will be for Barcelona to hand Kounde improved terms from a financial aspect.
