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Topics: Manchester City, Football, Pep Guardiola, Premier League, Transfers, West Ham
Ryan Smart
Topics: Manchester City, Football, Pep Guardiola, Premier League, Transfers, West Ham
Manchester City are reportedly set to open talks over the signing of their main summer transfer target - just hours after winning the Premier League title.
Pep Guardiola's side won their fourth consecutive Premier League crown with a 3-1 victory over West Ham at the Etihad Stadium, becoming the first team to achieve that feat in English top division history.
City have done relatively little business in recent windows when it comes to the volume of players coming into the club, with four senior players joining the club last summer.
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Two of those players - Josko Gvardiol and Jeremy Doku - have had significant impacts over the whole season, while Mateo Kovacic was a key player amid Kevin De Bruyne's absence during the first half of the campaign.
Matheus Nunes, meanwhile, has shown glimpses of his talent since arriving from Wolves.
City, it appears, will aim for a similar strategy of attracting a small number of top quality players to add to an existing core of elite names.
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According to Foot Mercato's Santi Aouna, City have opened talks with West Ham over the signing of midfielder Lucas Paqueta, with personal terms said to be already agreed.
City showed keen interest in the Brazil international last summer, with reports that they had agreed an £80 million deal in principle to bring him to the Etihad Stadium in August.
However, Paqueta was then named as part of an FA investigation into alleged betting breaches.
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The investigation reportedly centred around three yellow cards that Paqueta received during the 2022/23 season, with a betting authority noting that a 'larger than usual number of bets' were placed in Brazil before sending a report to FIFA and the FA.
The bets were not placed by Paqueta, and he has denied any wrongdoing. The transfer did not go ahead due to the investigation, as per Sky Sports.
The FA's investigation, however, still hasn't reached a conclusion, with Paqueta telling BBC Sport in March: "I'm co-operating as much as I can.
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"West Ham have always supported me. There was no reason for them not to do what they did, which was nothing more than put their player out there to play soccer.
"I'm happy to be helping, I hope to help at the end of the season."