Pundit Danny Murphy has claimed that Manchester City will look to bring in a new midfielder this summer after securing a deal for Mateo Kovacic.
After announcing the imminent departure of Ilkay Gundogan, the Manchester club then revealed they had signed Kovacic from Chelsea on a four-year deal.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Murphy said this about City’s current situation in terms of their midfield and what the remainder of the current transfer window could look like following the arrival of their newest recruit.
Murphy backs City to sign another midfielder
He said: “If Bernardo Silva goes as well as Gundogan, I know Kovacic is great, I know they’ll go and buy another one.
“Whoever you bring in, Kovacic, who I really like by the way, he’s not a goalscoring midfielder like Gundogan. And finding another Bernardo Silva, they don’t grow on trees.
“It’s not as easy as you think to bring in a couple and expect them to adapt and click your fingers and go ‘please replace them.’”
With the Citizens recently pulling out of the race to sign Declan Rice after having a £90m bid for him turned down by West Ham United, this shows why Murphy thinks the club could be on the hunt for another midfielder before the window closes.
As Murphy mentioned, Silva has found himself once again being linked with a move away from the Etihad Stadium this summer, with Paris Saint-Germain and Saudi Arabian club, Al Hilal, interested in signing him.
Taking that into account, if Silva were to leave in the coming weeks, we feel that City would definitely need to bring in a new midfielder, ideally one that can be as versatile as the Portuguese international and play across numerous positions if needed.
One midfield option the European champions have been linked with recently is Gabri Veiga, who apparently has a release clause worth €40m (£34m), which isn’t too far away from the fee they paid for Kovacic if they want to continue spending those sort of figures on players.
