Manchester City

Manchester City

Premier League • England

Liverpool, Newcastle and Atletico among SIX in scramble to sign £53m Man City star pushed out by Gundogan

Man City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan

Pep Guardiola is willing to offload a Manchester City player on the back of re-signing Ilkay Gundogan, and Liverpool, Newcastle and Atletico Madrid are among six clubs sizing up a move, according to reports.

Gundogan signed up for a second spell with Man City last Friday. The classy German, 33, initially left Man City when joining Barcelona as a free agent in the summer of 2023.

However, Barca greenlit Gundogan’s exit after just a single season, much to the delight of Pep Guardiola.

The Spanish manager wasted no time instructing his club to bring Gundogan back on board and Barcelona in their desperation to offload players allowed Gundogan to move on a free transfer.

Gundogan re-debuted for City in the 4-1 victory over Ipswich Town on Saturday when appearing as a 71st minute substitute.

His presence in the team, according to the Daily Star, has now made a late-window exit for Matheus Nunes almost inevitable.

Guardiola is reportedly willing to offload the 25-year-old Portugal international after Nunes has struggled to make an impact since his £53m arrival from Wolves last summer.

The report stated a loan exit that contains an option to buy is looking the likeliest outcome if Nunes does depart before the August 30 deadline. Man City would seek for the option to be set at around £40m, according to the report.

Premier League quintet plus Atletico Madrid all hovering

Interest in Nunes is understood to be widespread, with the Daily Star naming Newcastle, Everton and West Ham as exploring a move.

Furthermore, it’s claimed Liverpool and Chelsea had looked into a move earlier this window and upon learning Nunes is now available, they could thunder in.

The Reds are known to hold long-standing interest in Nunes having considered signing the midfielder during his Sporting CP days.

However, the Premier League quintet may be trumped by Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid.

A subsequent update from the Athletic’s David Ornstein revealed Atleti are ‘exploring the potential loan signing of Manchester City midfielder Matheus Nunes.’

Ornstein confirmed City are yet to receive any concrete bids from any club. However, given Nunes’ future only really became a hot topic once Gundogan re-signed late last week, that is perhaps not a surprise for the time being.

But with Gundogan returning and Nunes now even further down the pecking order, a last-gasp exit is now a distinct possibility.

READ MORE: The 10 Man City players sold for the biggest transfer profits in the Pep Guardiola era

Another high profile Man City exit coming

Nunes might not be the only major name to depart Man City in the window’s final days.

Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal have struck a verbal agreement with Man City for the transfer of Joao Cancelo.

The full details in that move – including how much the agreement is worth and Cancelo’s stance on moving to the middle east – can be found below.

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