Man City news: Pep Guardiola to address ageing midfield concerns with signing of Nico Gonzalez
Manchester City were torn apart by a rampant second-half display by Arsenal in a 5-1 defeat for the Citizens at the weekend.
Pep Guardiola watched on from the sidelines as his sluggish midfield were overrun, but the Spaniard is close to resolving the issue at hand with his latest recruit.
Former Barcelona and current Porto midfielder Nico Gonzalez is close to completing a move to Manchester for a reported fee of nearly £50million.
This is according to Fabrizio Romano via X, who claims Man City have agreed a structured deal worth up to that value to secure the signature of the 23-year-old.
City set to fill void left by Rodri’s absence
Romano also states that Gonzalez has agreed personal terms with City and is set to fly into the country to complete his medical ahead of the January deadline tonight at 23:00 GMT.
Gonzalez joined the Portuguese outfit in the summer of 2023 for around £7million, with Barcelona inserting a buyback clause into the deal.
The year before, the midfielder had been out on loan at fellow LaLiga side Valencia before cutting his trade in Portugal.
A product of La Masia, he has scored seven goals and recorded six assists in 29 appearances across all competitions this season.
The Spain U21 international can play in a deep-lying midfield role as well as in a more central midfield role - offering versatility in the absence of Ballon d'Or winner Rodri.
Gonzalez, represented by super agent Jorge Mendes, is set to be Guardiola’s fourth signing of the window so far, following on from the arrivals of Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis.
Man City face a trip to Leyton Orient next in the FA Cup, before their titanic clash against Spanish giants Real Madrid in the Champions League Play-Offs on February 11.
Follow all the latest January window rumours and deals with Transfer News Blitz, and follow us on BlueSky as we continue to tell it like it is when it comes to transfer talk.
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