Man City accelerate €60m January signing to haunt Liverpool and secure fifth straight EPL title

Manchester City are firming up plans to sign summer Liverpool target Martin Zubimendi and a report claims the Spaniard now looks more favourably on moving to England.

Man City suffered a critical blow when losing Rodri to an ACL injury in September. The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner is pivotal to everything Pep Guardiola’s side do well and his absence has already been keenly felt.

Man City have lost four matches on the spin – two of which were in the Premier League – to surrender top spot in the EPL to Liverpool. The Reds now hold a five-point advantage over their rivals and hopes are high they’ll prevent City from winning five successive titles.

A readymade replacement for Rodri is being sought for the upcoming January window and per a fresh update from The Sun, Martin Zubimendi could be on the move.

They claim Man City are ‘planning’ to activate Zubimendi’s €60m (£49.7m / €64m) release clause in a move that could swing the balance of power back in City’s favour for the second half of the season.

Zubimendi was courted by Liverpool over the summer after the Reds identified the Real Sociedad maestro as the perfect midfielder for Arne Slot’s system.

Zubimendi would go on to reject Liverpool in favour of staying loyal to his boyhood club. But per The Sun, ‘Zubimendi has had a change of heart and is keen to play in the Premier League after all.’

Accordingly, Man City are stated to be on ‘high alert’ and aim to succeed where Liverpool failed by bringing the 25-year-old to England.

READ MORE: The key contract details of every Man City first-team player: Expiry dates, weekly wages, agents…

Two Man City problems could scare Zubimendi

TEAMtalk exclusively revealed back on September 24 that Man City were strongly considering making a major move in January to offset Rodri’s absence.

We were told of four midfielders Man City were casting their eye over – Zubimendi, Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace), Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan) and Ederson (Atalanta).

Zubimendi appears to have emerged as the club’s No 1 target, though The Sun did sound a word of warning to Man City fans.

While the club are prepared to pay full price and Zubimendi appears more receptive to leaving Real Sociedad, it was noted the uncertain future at Man City could result in the player getting cold feet once again – just as he did with Liverpool over the summer.

Guardiola is in the final year of his contract at The Etihad and as yet, has not signalled he intends to sign an extension.

Furthermore, with the investigation into Man City’s alleged FFP breaches hanging over the club’s head, players like Zubimendi may be reluctant to sign up until the outcome is clear.

Latest Man City news

In other news, pundit Danny Murphy has explained why he believes Man City will swerve both Mikel Arteta and Enzo Maresca when seeking a successor to Guardiola.

Arteta and Maresca both previously served as assistants to Guardiola, though Murphy thinks neither manager will wind up at The Etihad.

Elsewhere, PSG have entered the frame for the signing of Erling Haaland. The future of Guardiola could reportedly be decisive in determining whether Haaland pushes for a move away.

Finally, Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde has been touted by reports in Spain as a potential Rodri replacement for Man City.

The signing of Valverde would unquestionably be more difficult and expensive to pull off than more realistic targets, such as Zubimendi.