Manchester City round-up: Juventus defender on rader; Nolito demands listed; forward given buy-back clause

By William Pearson

Reports emanating from Italy over the past day have claimed that Manchester City are joining Premier League rivals Chelsea in a race to sign Juventus left-back Alex Sandro during the window.

Italian outlet Premium Sport, as referenced by both the Manchester Evening News and The Sun, are alleging that Pep Guardiola is days away from making an offer for the Brazilian defender as he looks to bring in some re-enforcements to his back-line.

A deal for the 26-year-old could cost up to a reported £42 million but the City boss is willing to meet the Italian’s financial demands after Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna and Pablo Zabaleta were all released.

This news comes just a fortnight after Goal reported that City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain was in Turin to watch Sandro in action during their Champions League semi-final win over Monaco.

According to reports in The Sun this morning Manchester City have set their demands if out-of-favour forward Nolito wants a move to Sevilla, insisting that they want £12 million for the Spaniard.

It is believed that the 30-year-old has been given permission to talk to the La Liga club ahead of a proposed move back to Spain – but in order for a move to be finalised they need to meet his asking price.

Sevilla had been looking for a season-long loan deal with the option of making it a permanent deal beyond the end of the season but Pep Guardiola has decided to cut his losses and sell the forward.

It seems that the Spanish manager is looking to avoid a repeat of the Samir Nasri situation, where Sevilla opted not to make a move permanent.

After arriving from Celta Vigo last summer Nolito has struggled to get going in the Premier League, only managing nine starts, and it appears that a move away is imminent.

Meanwhile, reports in The Sun are also suggesting that Manchester City have inserted a buy-back clause in the deal that saw highly-rated youngster Enes Unal move to La Liga’s Villarreal last week.

The 20-year-old forward moved to the Spanish side for £10.4 million after spending the past year out on loan at FC Twente in Holland, scoring 18 goals and impressing.

Talking to beIN SPORTS, Unal’s agent said:

“They said to us that you’re free to choose. In fact, City wanted to loan him out for another year.

“They said to us if we sell him then it has to include a buy-back clause because we believe he has a part to play at City for the future, and then we put a buy-back clause in the deal.”

Although the youngster is yet to make his full Manchester City debut, it is believed that bosses at the Etihad have inserted the clause as they see him as a big prospect for the future.

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