Manchester City

Manchester City

Premier League • England

Transfer Gossip: Lightning strikes twice as Man City January deal has fresh chance of repeating; Chelsea to owe six-figure sum after midfielder call

Erling Haaland, Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva

Erling Haaland, Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva celebrate Man City goal against Man Utd

Manchester City might lose a key player to an exit route already taken by another man at the same time last year, while Chelsea have not changed their minds about one midfield move – all in Saturday’s transfer gossip.

BERNARDO SILVA BACK ON BARCELONA RADAR

Barcelona could present Manchester City with a fresh dilemma in January after reviving their interest in Bernardo Silva.

Silva was on Barcelona’s radar during the summer transfer window, although they could not find space for him in their squad. In turn, the Portugal international continued with Manchester City.

However, according to Diario Sport, there is now a chance that Barcelona could come back in for Silva in the winter.

Gerard Pique has announced his retirement, which will free some space on the wage bill. Although Barcelona may want to invest in a replacement defender, they are currently focusing on whether or not it is feasible to strengthen their midfield with Silva.

The report from Sport does question whether Manchester City would sell a key player mid-season. That said, they allowed Ferran Torres to go down the same route last January.

With Barcleona now considering Silva a viable target, the Premier League champions could be hearing from them again.

The 28-year-old is still under contract at the Etihad Stadium until 2025. Yet he might still be able to picture a future at Camp Nou.

There are not currently any details of how much Barcelona would be bidding for his services. But it appears he will be someone to keep an eye on over the next few months.

CHELSEA STICKING TO ZAKARIA PLAN

Denis Zakaria preparing for a Chelsea match

Despite his recent debut goal, Chelsea have decided to get rid of Denis Zakaria in January, according to reports in Italy.

Zakaria joined Chelsea on deadline day on a season-long loan deal from Juventus. He had only moved to the Italian side a few months earlier in the January transfer window.

Come this winter, he may be on the move again. Although Chelsea should have him for the rest of the season, he hasn’t had much of a chance to impress so far.

It took him until this week to make his debut for the club. That said, he marked it with a goal in their Champions League win over Dinamo Zagreb.

According to Calciomercato, it might not be enough for Chelsea to change their minds. Instead, they have already decided to cut their ties with Zakaria in January.

By terminating his loan deal halfway through, Chelsea will be sending Zakaria back to Juventus, where he remains under contract until 2026.

The report claims that Blues boss Graham Potter will not be changing his mind about his hierarchy in midfield. Therefore, despite Zakaria’s recent positive impression, further gametime may be hard to come by.

Juventus still hope to receive €1million (around £870,000) in bonuses from Chelsea, but are losing hope that the Premier League side will activate their €28million (£24.4million) option to buy.

MAN CITY EYE BLUES ATTACKER

Meanwhile, Manchester City could make a signing from Chelsea after opening talks with one of their attackers.

Keen to strengthen at all levels to maintain their dominance of the English game, Manchester City are looking at Chelsea’s academy for a potential reinforcement for their own.

According to the Evening Standard, they have commenced talks with Jude Soonsup-Bell, who is 18 years old and already has one first-team appearance for the Blues.

His contract with Chelsea is due to expire in the summer, which is why Manchester City have spotted an opportunity.

Indeed, the west London side think they are going to lose the player who scored the winning goal for them in last season’s Under-18 Premier League Cup final.

Manchester City are not his only admirers. In fact, there are other clubs in England and Europe who have identified him as one for the future.

Only time will tell where he ends up and what kind of player he becomes in the long term.