Manchester City make contact with Barcelona starlet’s representatives
According to reports from Spanish news outlet Fichajes, Manchester City have contacted representatives of Barcelona youngster Ilaix Moriba.
The famed La Masia academy of Barcelona is known for producing talented footballers and Ilaix Moriba, 18, is one of those to have graduated from them and break into the first team last season. He went on to make 18 appearances in the senior team under Ronald Koeman and also became the fifth-youngest player to score in Barcelona’s history.
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However, Fichajes claims Moriba is unhappy after being left out of Ronald Koeman’s pre-season plans, with Manchester City and Chelsea making initial advances to sign him as a result.
Barcelona have so far failed in their bid to extend the talented youngster’s contract, which expires next year.
Manchester City are looking to take advantage of Barcelona’s financial instability and lure Moriba away, with manager Pep Guardiola prepared to double the midfielder’s salary to €6m per year, the report adds.
Having entered the final year of his contract at Camp Nou, Moriba can sign a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club in January and leave on a free transfer in 2022.
Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman’s decision to not include him in his pre-season plans has further made the player’s future uncertain. This is apparently down to the youngster still being far away from agreeing on a contract renewal.
Barcelona would loathe losing such a promising talent but Moriba is seemingly planning to join another top European club that’ll guarantee him regular first-team football and help develop him as a player, the report states.
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The teenager from Conakry is a promising player who’ll need to play regularly to unlock his huge potential in the future. Pep Guardiola already has an array of options in his midfield department that could make it difficult for Moriba to buy regular first-team action should he decide to join the Sky Blues.
That makes it hard to judge the level of interest the Cityzens have in the Barcelona player at this point. Thus, this can be something to keep an eye on, as Guardiola looks to refresh his Manchester City squad ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.