Man City ignite contact for exciting winger and aim to ‘finalise’ another signing after ambitious raid for cheat code fails

Manchester City have resumed contact with Lyon about the signing of Bradley Barcola, according to a European journalist – but they appear to have been blocked from taking one of his compatriots.

Barcola has become a target for the treble winners since they sold Riyad Mahrez to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia. They need to address their options out wide, which is why they have identified Barcola as an option to reinforce their squad.

Recently, it was revealed that Man City scouted Barcola throughout the 2022-23 season, during which he scored seven goals and added 10 assists from 31 appearances.

Now, they have taken their pursuit a step further by making ‘fresh contact’ with his current employers at Lyon, according to SportItalia expert Gianluigi Longari. With their interest registered, they will be able to gauge how likely a deal is.

Man City do not appear to have made a bid for Barcola yet. Lyon still have the versatile attacker under contract until 2026, but their resolve may be about to be tested.

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Still only 20 years old, Barcola has played 44 times for Lyon’s first team. Last season was his breakout year, since he scored his first goals at senior level.

Lyon finished seventh in Ligue 1, though, which was outside the European places again. A move to Man City would allow him to compete in the Champions League – with the reigning holders of the trophy, no less.

Whether he would instantly get into the starting lineup in such a strong squad, though – even if the departure of Mahrez has opened up a vacancy in one of the roles he can operate in – is debatable.

Barcola has spent his entire career so far with Lyon after coming through their youth ranks, so playing in the Premier League would be a new challenge for the France under-21 international too.

Man City miss out on Coman but close in on Doku

Interestingly, Man City have also been targeting another French forward in the shape of Kingsley Coman, according to RMC Sport reporter Fabrice Hawkins.

At 27 years of age and with more than 50 Champions League appearances to his name, Coman is the more established player than his fellow Frenchman. He still boasts an extraordinary record of winning a league title in every single season of his career across spells with Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and his current club, Bayern Munich – making him seem like some kind of cheat code for gaining silverware.

Hawkins has claimed that Man City are interested in Coman, but Bayern have ‘closed the door’ to his potential exit from the Allianz Arena.

With Coman quickly out of the question, Hawkins has also revealed that Man City are confident of being able to ‘finalise’ the purchase of Jeremy Doku from Rennes soon.

While the value of that move has not been specified, it would be a record departure for a Rennes player in history.

Doku has long been linked with Liverpool after going on trial there as a teenager. However, Man City may have moved into pole position for the Belgian international.

Rennes have had Doku at their disposal for the best part of three years, in which he has scored 11 goals from 90 appearances for them. At the age of 21, he has the potential to reach even higher levels.