Manchester City round-up: Move for Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha; Pep Guardiola drops Leonardo Bonucci hint; Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette linked

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According to reports in The Sun over the past days, Manchester City could be set to put a surprise bid in for Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha once the current season draws to a close.

The 24-year-old winger has played a huge part in Palace’s battle for survival over recent weeks and it’s believed that his impressive performances have made the City manager sit up and take notice.

With Jesus Navas’ contract running out at the end of the season and a new deal unlikely to be agreed between the Spaniard and the club, City will be looking for a new wide man over summer.

Zaha – who created two of the Eagles’ goals in their win over Arsenal last night – has scored six goals and managed seven assists this season as Sam Allardyce’s side have moved away from trouble.

The report claims that the Ivory Coast international could cost around £25 million, with Palace allegedly reluctant to let Zaha leave Selhurst Park unless a club is willing to meet their demands.

At the other end of the pitch, the Manchester Evening News has reported that Pep Guardiola is re-igniting his interest in signing Juventus and Italy centre-back Leonardo Bonucci this summer.

Guardiola attempted to sign the veteran defender when he arrived at the Etihad Stadium last year – but failed – and the report claims that he’s set to try again to tempt him into a move to England.

It alleges that Guardiola wants Bonucci to line up alongside John Stones in the heart of the City defence, believing that the 29-year-old can bring the best out of the £50 million man.

Speaking over the weekend, Guardiola said:

“The defender has to be rougher and tough,” he said. “You cannot compete with strikers like (Romelu) Lukaku, (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic, (Diego) Costa.

“You have to be like that. We are looking for not just that, there have to be qualities of a player, for us it’s so important.”

Bonucci made his 300^th appearance for the Turin side earlier this year in a 4-1 win over Palermo, and has featured 69 times for the Italian national side since his debut seven years ago.

Meanwhile interest in bringing £40 million Lyon forward Alexandre Lacazette to the Etihad Stadium is growing according to The Mirror, with City set to go head to head with rivals Arsenal.

The report suggests that the 25-year-old French international is on his way out of Lyon at the end of the season, and Guardiola sees Lacazette as the man to add firepower to his side in front of goal.

The forward rejected a new deal at the French giants, despite having two years left on his current contract, and it is fully expected that he will find a new club in the upcoming months.

City could have to go up against Atletico Madrid if they want to secure their man though, with interest across Europe growing for the man that has managed 22 goals in 26 Ligue One matches this year.

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