Manchester City lead Mateo Fernandez transfer race as Pep Guardiola eyes Espanyol raid

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According to The Sun, Manchester City are leading the race to sign Espanyol hotshot Mateo Fernandez as Pep Guardiola’s side looks to the future.

The Premier League champions-elect are striving to add young, up-and-coming talents to their junior ranks that they can look to develop in-house and bring through to the first-team.

City believe Fernandez is an exciting prospect to lure to the Etihad Campus as the 17-year-old striker boasts a good technical ability and is physically strong, while also counting as a homegrown player.

Fernandez was born in Spain but is from an English family, allowing him to qualify for both countries, and could now be given the chance to make a name for himself in the UK.

The forward is yet to make his senior Espanyol debut but has been with the Barcelona outfit for a number of years after catching their interest while in the academy of Real Racing Club.

A native of the Santander region, Fernandez registered an incredible return of more than 40 goals during the 2016/17 season (Racinguismo) with an average in excess of one per game, and is now considered to be one of the top prospects of Spain’s Junior Honor Division.

Fernandez struck a hat-trick over Barcelona’s academy side in March under the watch of several scouts (Racinguismo), as the pacey teenager moved atop Espanyol’s Juvenil A’s scoring charts for the term.

TBR’s view:

There are no guarantees that Fernandez would be able to replicate his youth-level success on the senior stage as his wait for a first-team opportunity at Espanyol continues, but Manchester City would seemingly acquire a truly promising prospect in the striker.

Fernandez’s record in front of the goal appears consistently high and he has caught the Citizens’ interest beyond his output, with their admiration of his technical and physical traits noted.

Manchester City have also seen what trusting youth can achieve under Guardiola in Phil Foden, who was being touted as a Premier League Player of the Season contender earlier in the campaign (talkSPORT) and ran the show against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

It remains to be seen if Fernandez is now willing to explore the path taken by Foden, or if he will prefer to stay in Spain and build a career in the country of his birth over his family’s.