Manchester City: Transfer News and Rumour Roundup 9
The Difficult Decision
Claudio Bravo, 33, Barcelona, Goalkeeper
Let’s start with a new one, though it certainly doesn’t feel that way. Barcelona and Chile number 1 Claudio Bravo has been linked, tenuously, with Manchester City for weeks but within the last 24 hours things have heated up. Why?
Well, it’s to do with the situation at Barcelona. Their number 1 keeper until now has indeed been Bravo, but their number 2, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, has been increasingly vocal about his desire to have more playtime. It comes with the territory of having two potentially world class keepers in your squad, ter Stegen himself playing second fiddle in Germany only to that fella Manuel Neuer.
Barcelona had increased the number of games for ter Stegen, from domestic cups to also include the Champions League, but it seems this summer he feels ready to take the next step forward and be between the sticks at Camp Nou for La Liga too. The problem is, Bravo too also has a claim to keeping his place as the number 1 keeper, showing no signs of slowing despite being 33. This conundrum was noticed by City and they’ve moved in to help force Barcelona’s hand.
It was reported a few weeks back that City had prioritised ter Stegen, who is only 24 and represents a long term option, but would also be interested in Bravo if available. The gambit seems to have paid off, as recent reports, from TV3, have indicated Barcelona have moved to protect ter Stegen making him untradeable and promising him he would be number 1 next season. Furthermore, Mundo Deportivo have reported that Barcelona would then reluctantly be willing to sell Bravo on to Manchester City, knowing he wouldn’t stay to play second fiddle to ter Stegen.
Nice little trick there, eh? Mind, it’s by no means confirmed and it’s possible Barcelona could tempt Bravo to stay with financial incentive, but that’s unlikely to work given how their hands have been tied over recently blowing up their wage structure to extend Neymar. As for Bravo, well, he’s good enough to legitimately be number 1 and thus is unlikely to settle for any less. Since he himself would be wanting to leave, presumably his fee would be low, rumoured around £15million, due to little leverage from Barcelona.
What does this mean for City? Well they probably would have preferred ter Stegen, but Bravo is an exceptional keeper nonetheless. Indeed, he’s a better shot stopper than ter Stegen and has similar high levels of distribution, a key factor in his acquisition. Where this leaves the Blues current number 1 Joe Hart is unknown, but it can’t be argued that a goalie with top notch distribution is of primary importance to Pep and is linked to his style as much as anything.
Assuming Bravo is on the cards, one would imagine recent rumours of City being close to signing Geronimo Rulli and loaning him back to Real Sociedad, as we discussed before, would be to keep the youngster as a long term option for when Bravo bows out. 33 isn’t a particularly desirable age to pick up a keeper at, but he hasn’t lost his edge, as Sergio Aguero will have noted when Bravo made a stunning acrobatic leap to palm his header over the bar in this year’s Copa America final.
My gut tells me that there’s quite a bit of smoke here and if Barcelona really do promote ter Stegen, then Bravo is likely gone. If so, you’d have to favour City and Guardiola to pick up the pieces. Either which way, it seems Pep is hell-bent on having either competition or a replacement for Hart, a world class keeper in his own right. This is a bitter pill to swallow, but if it’s that essential for Pep then it’s one we may well have to swallow.
Next: The Next One Through The Door?