Manchester City

Manchester City

Premier League • England

Man City want £100m Liverpool target at all costs with current star ready to ‘pack up and leave’ for Spain

Aymeric Laporte and Riyad Mahrez of Man City

Manchester City hope to beat Liverpool to the capture of an outstanding £100million ace as one of their current players is preparing to leave, according to a report.

City are in a good position to win the Premier League title, although they are still trailing Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. The Gunners have a two-point lead and a game in hand on City at the time of writing.

City will be hoping Arsenal slip up when Everton travel to the Emirates on Wednesday night. Everton have already helped Pep Guardiola’s side once by beating Arsenal at Goodison Park on February 4.

Arsenal dropping more points would aid City massively. The Citizens’ next league match is against Newcastle United on Saturday, though they have an FA Cup clash with Bristol City to focus on first.

City are fighting on three fronts as they remain in the Champions League, too. Their last-16 tie with RB Leipzig is delicately poised at 1-1 following a draw in Germany last week.

Whether the Citizens win several trophies or not, there are bound to be some personnel changes in the summer. Creative midfielder Bernardo Silva has been open about his desire to take part in a new challenge.

READ MORE: U-turn for Chelsea enforcer as critical talks quickly approach to avoid hurtful Man City transfer

And Silva could be followed out of the exit door by centre-back Aymeric Laporte. As per French source Foot Mercato, Laporte is ready to ‘pack up and leave’ the club at the end of the campaign.

He is fed up of being used as a ‘luxury substitute’ by Guardiola. In recent weeks, the 28-year-old has started one league match before being rested in the next game. While Guardiola will see this as saving his legs, the report claims Laporte is fed up.

Man City star becomes disillusioned with Pep Guardiola

He wants to play in pretty much every big match, which is something Guardiola cannot guarantee. In contrast, at a club like Arsenal, there are a less changes to the starting eleven due to the squad depth not quite being as strong.

Foot Mercato bring up the possibility of Laporte heading back to Spain. Having represented Athletic Bilbao in the past, he could now move to Barcelona. Xavi is a fan of Laporte and believes he could form a strong centre-back partnership with Ronald Araujo.

But City fans should not be too concerned about Guardiola’s squad being weakened by Laporte’s potential exit. That is because they are preparing to go all out for RB Leipzig star Josko Gvardiol as his replacement.

The 21-year-old has established himself as one of the best young defenders in the world through his top performances for both Leipzig and the Croatia national team. He is now rated at around £100m.

Fabrizio Romano recently confirmed Liverpool are monitoring Gvardiol. The transfer journalist also revealed that a decision will be made on his future in March.

But unfortunately for Liverpool, City will provide stiff competition for the Bundesliga star. City will throw as much money as possible at Leipzig to try and secure an agreement for his services.

Leipzig know Gvardiol has the ability to play for a bigger team and could therefore sell him to the highest bidder, most likely City.

One saving grace for Liverpool might be the player’s preference. He supported Liverpool as a youngster and could therefore tell Leipzig that he would rather move to Anfield than the Etihad. Ultimately, though, the decision will rest with Leipzig. If Liverpool cannot offer as much money as City, then Guardiola’s team will probably win the transfer race.

Meanwhile, Tuesday’s Transfer Gossip includes City offering an attacker a new deal amid interest from a European heavyweight.