Manchester City

Manchester City

Premier League • England

Guardiola in double battle with former club for two exciting Man City targets

Man City manager Pep Guardiola venting his anger 2021

Manchester City are ready to rival Pep Guardiola’s former club Bayern Munich for two transfer targets, according to reports.

Guardiola has been a huge success since being appointed as Man City manager in 2016. It followed a similarly trophy-laden spell with Bayern. But the coach is always seeking to evolve the City project and his former employers are in a continual path of growth too.

With that in mind, it appears both clubs are having similar thoughts in the transfer market. Reports from Calciomercato indicate they share an interest in two targets.

The first write-up covered their interest in Frenkie De Jong, of another of Guardiola’s former clubs – Barcelona.

De Jong joined Barca from Ajax in 2019 and has been a bright spark for them in a couple of forgettable years. He has already passed 100 appearances for the club.

The Dutch midfielder – who bears no relation to former City midfielder Nigel De Jong – has earned admirers at the Etihad Stadium and Allianz Arena as a result of his performances.

City are looking to evolve their midfield, bearing in mind that Fernandinho is approaching the end of his career.

De Jong would be an exciting addition and at the age of 24 could help City for years to come. It would be hard to prise him away from Barcelona, though, due to his contract lasting until 2026.

Manchester City eyeing up move for Toni Kroos

Manchester City eyeing up move for Toni Kroos

Manchester City are reportedly eyeing up a move for Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos, with more news on Donny van de Beek and Ferran Torres.

Barca’s financial issues are well documented, though, so it would be interesting to see if their stance changes if a huge offer comes in.

Manchester City, Bayern Munich share Antony interest

Another player to have caught the attention of both City and Bayern is Antony, who currently plays for De Jong’s former club, Ajax.

The Brazilian winger made his way to Europe in 2020. He scored 10 goals from 46 games in his debut season in Amsterdam.

He became a senior international earlier this year and as a 21-year-old also has a bright future ahead of him.

Another report from the same outlet has revealed that Bayern and City are keeping tabs on him. In addition, there is also interest from Monaco.

Antony is under contract in the Netherlands until 2025.

City are well stocked in his position. But doubts over the future of the likes of Raheem Sterling means there is always room for fluidity.

As long as Antony keeps performing the way he is, it seems he will make the step up to a bigger league sooner rather than later.

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