5 months ago
16 Manchester City are set to make some changes in their midfield ahead of next season.
The main topic of discussion remains the future of Kevin De Bruyne, and according to CaughtOffside sources with knowledge of the club’s plans, a first attempt by the Cityzens to get the Belgian to renew has left a lot to still be discussed.
Both club and player will meet again in the coming weeks as they will need to delve deeper into the various aspects of any deal.
Man City want Lucas Paqueta to replace Bernardo Silva
The insistent interest from the Saudi Pro League remains active as some Saudi clubs consider De Bruyne among the main targets for the summer.
They will try and tempt him again and, given that he hasn’t rebuffed the interest out of hand, his future is, therefore, is still to be defined.
Another situation that needs to be resolved quickly is related to Bernardo Silva.
Lucas Paqueta is Man City’s preferred replacement for Bernardo Silva.The Portuguese is believed to be hoping that Barcelona come in for him, whilst Paris Saint-Germain are apparently increasing the pressure on him to sign for them.
Given his expected exit, West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta remains a concrete objective for the Premier League champions, even if the betting issue has frozen everything for now.
In addition to the Brazilian, Xavi Simons is on City’s list – as well as many other teams in Europe – as is Bruno Guimaraes who, unless there are sensational twists, should leave Newcastle in the summer.

On the incoming front, Pep Guardiola remains very interested in Joao Neves, the young Benfica talent, who has now become a key player for the Portuguese club.
The stumbling block to that deal at present is that the club don’t want to negotiate his release clause which has been set at €120m.
