A number of reports link the Club with what would be a dramatic, world record £140m bid for Monaco’s French striker Kylian Mbappe.
Reports suggest the battle to capture the teenager, who burst onto the stage in last season’s Champions League, will boil down to a straight fight between City and Real Madrid, who have also been heavily linked with Mbappe.
Chris Wheeler in the Daily Mail, writes that City are hoping to hijack Real Madrid’s bid to persuade the youngster to move to Spain.
”City are pursuing a deal that would shatter the £89m deal that brought Paul Pogba to Manchester United last year,” he writes.
”Real have agreed £160m six-year deal with Mbappe but City are refusing to give up the chase.”
ESPN’s Jonathan Smith says that City are willing to match any offer for a player who has become the most sought-after young talent in Europe.
“City are ready to offer assurances that he will feature regularly despite the wealth of attacking options at the Etihad Stadium with Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus, Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling all fighting for a starting place.”
Writing in the Daily Mirror, David McDonnell says that City are more than willing to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Real Madrid in order to sign the best available talent.
“Pep Guardiola says City can compete for the same players as Real such as Mbappe, and insists they have the same financial muscle as 12-times European champions.”
Meanwhile, new City defender Danilo, who joined the club from Real Madrid earlier this week, revealed he has rejected the chance to join Chelsea in order to move to Manchester, according to Manchester Evening News reporter James Robson.
“It wasn’t a difficult decision to choose City over Chelsea. The moment Pep and City called me, I knew what I had to do,” Danilo told the paper.
“It was very fast. I was training with Real Madrid and Pep called me and I was very motivated to make this change and start to work with him.
“I was sure I needed to change. I needed to think a bit more about myself and find a place where I had the best options.”
That’s all for today, Blues, but we’ll be back with more paper talk tomorrow.
