Manchester City
Premier League • England
Man City gazump Arsenal, Chelsea with move for ‘extraordinary’ Mahrez replacement
Man City have found the player they want to succeed Riyad Mahrez, and a report claims Pep Guardiola ‘will move’ for the star Arsenal and Chelsea both tried and failed to sign.
Mahrez recently left for Saudi Arabia when completing a £30m move to Al Ahli. The Algerian is accustomed to lining up in star-studded forward lines and that won’t change at his new club. Indeed, a mouth-watering link-up alongside Allan Saint-Maximin and Roberto Firmino now awaits.
Cole Palmer staked his claim to be Guardiola’s Mahrez replacement in the Community Shield. His delicious curled effort put Man City in front, though it was the Gunners who ultimately emerged victorious via the penalty shoot-out.
However, on the back of signing Josko Gvardiol for £77.6m, Guardiola has publicly stated he expects at least one more arrival.
Per the Sun, it’ll come in the forward ranks, with Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma the player being lined to replace Mahrez.
The Japan international, 26, is coming off the back of a superb season for club and country.
Mitoma scored 10 and assisted eight across all competitions for Brighton. Among his highlights was scoring the winning goal that knocked Liverpool out of the FA Cup at the fourth round stage.
Mitoma is right-footed, though can operate on either flank. Per the Sun, Guardiola ‘will move’ for Mitoma next now Gvardiol is banked.
Arsenal and Chelsea have both shown interest in the winger in the past. However, Brighton rebuffed both clubs and the report states they’ll attempt to do the same to City.
To that end, a new five-year contract offer has been put to Mitoma. His current deal has two years left to run.
However, the appeal of joining the recent treble winners will be difficult to ignore. What’s more, if comments from Guardiola are anything to go by, the Spaniard will pull out all the stops to land Mitoma.
Ahead of City’s friendly clash with Yokohama F Marinos on July 26, Guardiola said: “Well I would say the impact of Mitoma on the Premier League has been incredible.
“He is in the right place with the right manager and his last season was extraordinary. And look at what Japan have done in the World Cup in a tough, tough group.”
On the subject of cost, the Sun conclude Brighton could generate as much as £50m for the Japan international.
While the Seagulls will push to retain their electric wideman, they’ll at least be in line to make a gigantic profit if they do cash in.
Indeed, Mitoma cost Brighton just £2.6m when plucked from Kawasaki Frontale in 2021.