Romano confirms Man City hunting lightning-fast Newcastle star to replace Etihad hero

James Holland 13 May 2025 10:56 AM

Man City boss Pep Guardiola and Newcastle manager Eddie Howe

Man City hold firm interest in a classy Newcastle star

Fabrizio Romano has confirmed Manchester City are keen on Newcastle United star Tino Livramento, while also revealing what will happen to Kyle Walker this summer.

Livramento came through the Chelsea academy but never made a senior appearance for the Blues. He held concerns about a route into the Chelsea first team and this saw him join Southampton for just £5million in August 2021.

The right-back’s progress at Southampton was hampered by an ACL injury in April 2022, but overall he made a great impression while on the south coast.

Saints made a profit when selling Livramento as he went on to join Newcastle in August 2023 in a £40m deal.

The 22-year-old is now viewed as one of the best young full-backs in the Premier League as he is solid defensively but can also use his electric pace to maraud forward and help with attacks.

Unfortunately for Newcastle, Livramento’s great performances have caught the attention of Man City recruitment chiefs.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Romano has provided his information on City chasing Livramento.

He reveals that the England star is ‘among [the] options under consideration at City’ for the right-back position.

Livramento has made it onto City’s four-man shortlist – which also includes Nicolo Savona – with the club set to decide on their top target before the Club World Cup begins on Saturday, June 14.

The Cityzens are stepping up their plans to replace six-time Premier League champion Walker.

He joined AC Milan on loan in January, and the deal includes an option to buy worth €5m (£4m). There has been tentative talk that Walker might return to City for next season, but Romano has shut this down.

‘Walker will 100 per cent leave the club, even if Milan won’t buy him,’ the journalist adds.

**Man City eyeing Livramento and Guimaraes**

Romano’s update on Livramento comes after City’s interest was first revealed by The Telegraph in February.

It emerged at that stage that City were ‘monitoring’ the youngster ahead of making a summer move.

Pep Guardiola’s ideal right-back signing would be Achraf Hakimi, but City have given up on that pursuit as he will be incredibly hard to prise away from Paris Saint-Germain.

Newcastle will put up a fight to keep Livramento too though, as they view him as a crucial part of their long-term project.

Livramento has regularly clocked speeds of over 35km/h, making him one of the fastest players in the Premier League. Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has labelled his physical traits ‘excellent’, too.

This pace could help Livramento become an ideal successor to Walker at the Etihad, should a deal be forged.

Sources have previously confirmed to TEAMtalk that Guardiola is also a huge fan of Livramento’s Newcastle team-mate Bruno Guimaraes and would love to sign him for City.

Guardiola wants City to land a new central midfielder and two new full-backs as part of their big summer rebuild.

Juventus’ Andrea Cambiaso is the No 1 objective for the left-back position. Should City fail to snare Guimaraes for the midfield, then they will likely shift their focus towards Milan’s Tijjani Reijnders.