Reports | Manchester City eye €120 million move for Atletico Madrid’s Jose Gimenez
With their two-season UEFA competition ban lifted, Manchester City are set to rebuild their squad this summer with Atletico Madrid’s Jose Gimenez as their top target. The Cityzens are looking to reinforce their squad ahead of a title push next season with their midfield and backline top priorities.
Despite letting club legend Vincent Kompany leave last summer, Manchester City opted not to sign reinforcements which has caused serious problems for the club. Neither John Stones nor Nicolas Otamendi have stepped up in the Belgian’s absence which has left Aymeric Laporte as the club’s only reliable center-back. However, while Eric Garcia and Fernandinho have slowly grown into their roles as first-team center-backs, the Cityzens have struggled to keep clean sheets.
This season they’ve conceded 35 goals in 36 league games which is 12 more than they managed in the last term but more importantly it ha led to City losing nine league games. It’s the most number of losses in a single season that Pep Guardiola has ever racked up in his managerial career which has seen the Spaniard think about an aggressive rebuild. That includes reinforcements to his back-line and the Sunday Times has reported that Atletico Madrid star Jose Gimenez is at the top of that list.
The 25-year-old would cost upwards of a €100 million for the club but that is not an issue with the CAS judgement over their European ban helping their cause. The Times also revealed that Benfica captain Ruben Dias, Bournemouth’s Nathan Ake, and Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly are on the shortlist as well with the Cherries’ star the cheapest possible option.