Manchester City 'open talks' with European giants for highly-rated midfielder with £50m release clause
Manchester City have made a formal approach to sign former Barcelona midfielder Nico Gonzalez, according to reports – but the deal will be difficult to pull off.
After struggling in the opening months of the 2024/25 campaign, City's recruitment team have been hard at work in January.
Last week, Abdukodir Khusanov arrived from Lens for a reported £33.5 million and a day later, Vitor Reis – another highly-rated defender – left Brazilian club Palmeiras for the Etihad in a deal worth £29.6 million.
City have also been chasing a central midfielder as they continue to struggle without the injured Rodri.
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Douglas Luiz and Atlanta's Ederson were linked but now, it appears City are making a concrete move for Nico González, who scored the winner for Porto in their Europa League clash against Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday.
With just three days remaining of the window, talks have already started over a potential transfer, according to Fabrizio Romano, who claims the former La Masia product has a release clause worth €60 million [£50m].
Barcelona, meanwhile, included a 40 per cent sell-on clause – as well as a €30 million buy-back option – when Gonzalez penned a five-year contract at the Portuguese side fee in 2023.
Despite the late approach, Porto want to keep Gonzalez at the Estadio do Dragao and are asking for an "important" transfer fee as they engage in talks with City.
Transfer expert Ben Jacobs gave a further insight into the potential deal on Friday afternoon.
"Not an easy deal to pull off because Porto want Gonzalez to stay," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "Understand #MCFC do not plan to trigger the €60m release clause, so it will require Porto to engage."
The 23-year-old midfielder, who is the son of Deportivo La Coruna legend Fran González, graduated through Barcelona's academy system before making 37 appearances for their first-team.
He spent a season on loan at Valencia in 2022/23, where he featured 26 times for the La Liga side, before joining FC Porto in July 2023.
Jack Kenmare