Guardiola’s Summer Mission: Man City’s £150M Pursuit of Two Rising Stars and Marco Verratti

Man City is not expected to be very active in the upcoming summer transfer window. However, Pep Guardiola will need to make 2-3 signings to address certain positions within the team.

According to reports from both British and Spanish media, there is speculation that Bernardo Silva, Aymeric Laporte, and Ilkay Gundogan may depart from City at the end of the season.

Marco Verratti

In light of this, Guardiola and the City scouts have been evaluating the situation of Italian midfielder Marco Verratti. Verratti has been a key player for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) since 2012, and it is believed that this might be his final season in Paris.

Verratti’s contract is set to expire on June 30, 2026, and his current market value, as per Transfermarkt, stands at 50 million. Despite this valuation, PSG is reportedly looking to offload players considered past their prime, and Verratti is among those on the list.

On the other hand, Guardiola views Verratti as one of the best potential replacements for Ilkay Gundogan. While Verratti is primarily known as a defensive midfielder, he is also capable of playing in a central midfield role.

Even Messi and Neymar have lauded Verratti’s abilities, comparing him to the likes of Xavi and Iniesta. They consider Verratti to be at the same level as these legendary midfielders. Verratti has played 414 games for Paris Saint-Germain, scoring 11 goals and providing 61 assists.

Alexis Mac Allister

This photo was taken several days ago at halftime when we drew against Brighton. Pep Guardiola shared some friendly and kind words with Alexis Mac Allister. Pep has a remarkable ability to negotiate directly on the pitch.

The 24-year-old Mac Allister played a crucial role in Argentina’s World Cup victory and became a champion. He joined Brighton in 2019, and even Roberto De Zerbi, the coach of Brighton and a good friend of Pep, admitted that Alexis will leave the team at the end of the season.

Liverpool is currently engaged in advanced talks to sign Mac Allister, but City remains in contention. According to reports, Manchester has offered a higher salary to Brighton’s number 10 than Liverpool has.

City has shown a strong interest in Argentine footballers, as evidenced by our recent acquisitions of Máximo Perrone and Julian Alvarez from Argentina.

We will have to pay at least 60 million for him.

Joško Gvardiol

Alex Mac Allister and Argentina had a dominant performance against Joško Gvardiol and his Croatian team, but Guardiola needs Gvardiol.

21-year-old Gvardiol is a left-footed center-back similar to Aymeric Laporte. He joined Leipzig in 2020 for a fee of 19 million euros. While Leipzig is open to negotiations, they expect any potential bid for Gvardiol to be at least 95 million euros.

Real Madrid managed to steal away Jude Bellingham from us, and now they are also interested in acquiring Gvardiol.

In addition, Christopher Nkunku has already departed Leipzig for Chelsea, leading reporters to speculate that the next player to leave the club could be the Croatian defender.

There won’t be more than three transfers in the summer, and it is expected that Pep will provide more opportunities to academy players such as Carlos Borges, Oscar Bobb, Adedire Mebude, and others.