Manchester City reportedly lead race to sign Isco of Real Madrid
Apparently Isco is within the grasp of Manchester City for a summer move to the Etihad.
According to City Watch, Real Madrid midfielder Isco is “very close” to joining Manchester City as opposed to a number of suitors like Chelsea, Juventus and of course Barcelona.
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The website reports:
"Isco has finally decided to move on, it is reported, and has rejected a new contract offer from Los Blancos. His current deal is up in 2018, meaning Real Madrid must sell him this coming summer if he won’t renew, and Manchester City are at the front of the queue, SPORT claim."
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That’s good news for City, a club whose interest in the Spaniard extends back before he joined Los Galacticos thanks to the (un)timely intervention from now Real boss Zinedine Zidane (so not bitter about it).
Anyway, it looks like fate has realigned the orbits of City and the intrepid Isco, a player Zidane compared to only himself. Despite such praise, he hasn’t established himself as a regular first team player for Real. As such, the Blues’ front office can’t fail to ink the midfielder this time around.
I’ve made it no secret on this blog that I think City need to get younger in both the midfield and defense. The 24-year-old Isco would certainly work to that regard.
City Watch believes him to be a possible long-term replacement for David Silva. I see him as more versatile in value, taking a more deep-lying midfield position like Fernandinho‘s. I also like him on the flank as a wing back in the style of Antonio Conte’s deployment of Victor Moses at Chelsea.
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Really. He can play out wide. Watch how he stifled Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben in the a replay of the Champions League semifinals of 2014 as Los Blancos worked their way to La Decima.
In any case, his versatility, vision and passing make complete sense for a Pep Guardiola-helmed side.