Fabrizio Romano confirms Man City have submitted bid for Wolves star Matheus Nunes

Fabrizio Romano has claimed Manchester City have submitted an opening bid for Wolverhampton Wanderers star Matheus Nunes.

City are looking to strengthen in midfield after their attempt to sign West Ham United's Lucas Paqueta was derailed by a Football Association investigation into alleged betting breaches.

Pep Guardiola's side have been further depleted by the loss of Kevin De Bruyne to a hamstring injury, with the Belgian having required surgery that could see him spend up to four months on the sidelines.

And City appeared to have acted, having reportedly placed an opening bid for Nunes.

Transfer guru Romano claimed: "Understand Manchester City have now submitted initial bid to Wolverhampton for Matheus Nunes.

"Told proposal is in excess of €50m fee with add-ons discussed in the package.

"Nunes has already accepted City as destination, personal terms agreed."

The 24-year-old joined Wolves from Sporting Lisbon a year ago on a five-year contract with the option of a sixth but was soon linked with a move to Anfield. Indeed, last season the Telegraph even claimed Liverpool and Wolves had agreed a clause that would see the Reds commit to a £44million bid to bring the midfielder to Anfield this summer.

However, Wolves reportedly removed the clause in Nunes' contract that would allow Liverpool to trigger a deal for the player, and the move never materialised.

Nunes has played 41 games for Wolves, are as per The Athletic's David Ornstein, the club are unlikely to welcome City's interest so close to the summer market closing.

However, the Molineux side's financial position could make the prospect of rejecting bids of a certain size difficult, given a sale would provide the club with funds to bolster their squad in multiple areas.

Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze is another attacking midfielder said to be on City’s recruitment list.

While Eze only has two years left on his Palace deal, club chairman Steve Parish claimed it would take an "extraordinary offer" to persuade them to sell any existing players.

Topics: Football, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester City, Premier League

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.