Extraordinary £237m Man City swoop for ‘the chosen one’ billed, with world transfer record to be obliterated

James Holland 09 Apr 2025 12:14 PM

Pep Guardiola Man City linked with sensational move

Man City have been tipped to shatter the world transfer record

Manchester City have been linked with a remarkable move for Barcelona star Lamine Yamal after a European giant previously failed to prise him away from Catalonia.

Yamal is only 17 years old but is already a key player for both Barcelona and the Spain national team. This season he has notched 13 goals and 20 assists in 42 matches for Barca across all competitions.

The right winger is aiming to help Barca add to their Spanish Super Cup triumph earlier in the campaign. They sit top of LaLiga with a four-point lead over rivals Real Madrid, while they will also face Los Blancos in the Spanish Cup final later this month.

Yamal’s performances will be key if Hansi Flick’s side are to overcome Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League quarter-finals, too.

But Barca are at risk of losing their prized asset. Man City are keeping tabs on Yamal’s situation as the Blaugrana continue to battle financial difficulty in LaLiga.

Barca have yet to tie the brilliant teenager down to a new long-term deal and Fichajes report that City are looking to capitalise on this.

Pep Guardiola’s side have supposedly drawn up a remarkable €275million (£237m / $304m) ‘offer’ to try and convince Barca on a sale.

While Barca are desperate to keep Yamal for the long haul, City bidding this amount would ‘put them in a difficult situation’.

The report adds that Barca remain in contract negotiations with Yamal’s camp as they look to increase his release clause to €1bn (£861m / $1.1bn), though City are ready to throw a spanner in the works.

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£237m deal would make history

Yamal moving to the Etihad for £237m would see him become the most expensive player in both the Premier League and the entire world.

The Premier League record is currently held by Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo (£115m), while the world record remains Neymar’s £200m switch from Barca to Paris Saint-Germain in August 2017.

PSG have made a move for Yamal before, allegedly putting as much as €250m on the table. However, this was rejected as Barca would ideally like to build around their mercurial academy graduate.

BBC Sport have labelled Yamal as ‘the chosen one’, while Pedri has compared his influence to that of Lionel Messi.

While Guardiola and City will undoubtedly be big admirers of Yamal, we must now wait for other outlets to confirm their interest in such an audacious swoop.