True Man City intentions for Argentine signing revealed, with Championship club to surprisingly benefit

Manchester City want to sign Valentin Barco from Boca Juniors and then send him on loan to a club in the Championship, according to reports in Argentina.

Barco is becoming heavily linked with Man City, who seem to have identified him as an ideal candidate for the long-term at left-back. Plenty of other clubs have been queueing up for the teenager, but Man City are being regularly mentioned as potential takers and might well have the power to win the race.

However, it recently emerged that Barco would not be an immediate solution for Pep Guardiola’s side. The idea of them sending him out on loan after buying him has been under consideration.

There have been claims he could stay at Boca Juniors on loan, but an update from TyC Sports has revealed that Man City actually want to offer him a next step in English football.

Indeed, their plan would be to send him on loan to a Championship side so that he can acclimatise to English football.

It is a strategy City have sometimes used before for their own academy products, but when buying talents from overseas, they have often preferred to develop them at other clubs abroad in their City Football Group network.

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For Barco, there seems to be a belief that he would benefit from more specific adaptation to English football. It is not yet clear which side in the second tier might be in line to take him next if City do get their hands on him.

Barco has a release clause in his contract that will allow him to change clubs for just over £8m, although Boca Juniors might be trying to increase his value by offering him a contract renewal.

Those efforts might be in vain if Barco has his head turned by his Premier League admirers, but only time will tell when and how he moves on from the only club he has represented in his career so far.

Barco could be long-term fix for Man City at left-back

Left-back is an area City have been looking to fix for a while. Until January, their main starter there was Joao Cancelo – naturally a right-footer – but he fell out with Guardiola and has since gone to Barcelona on loan for the current season after a similar six-month spell with Bayern Munich earlier this year.

Admittedly, Guardiola’s system is fluid, but the only left-back he has is Sergio Gomez, who is far from the biggest star in his squad. Other left-footed defenders who favour playing more centrally but remain at Guardiola’s disposal are Nathan Ake and Josko Gvardiol.

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