Manchester City enter transfer race for highly-rated RB Leipzig forward
RB Leipzig are prepared to sell their star attacker Christopher Nkunku in the summer transfer window amidst interest from Manchester City, reports ESPN.
Christopher Nkunku, 24, has been in sensational form this season, bagging 26 goals and 15 assists in 39 appearances, and the fact that he has predominantly played as an attacking midfielder adds more value to his name.
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Unsurprisingly, the Frenchman’s performances for RB Leipzig haven’t gone unnoticed, with Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United and Real Madrid are all keen on him. Paris Saint-Germain remain interested in re-signing Nkunku, who has just two years left to run on his contract, ESPN claims.
So, RB Leipzig are fairly in a strong position and want to extend the creative midfielder’s stay at the club. They remain hopeful of convincing him to stay for an additional campaign and feel their good relationship with his agent Pini Zahavi will help during negotiations.
However, there is an acceptance within the club that any offer that exceeds €75 million for their season’s talisman will make it difficult to reject. Like many European bigwigs, Bayern Munich would want to add Nkunku to their squad as well but will struggle to meet Leipzig’s asking price of €75m, the report adds.
Off the back of a splendid season that is yet to finish, Nkunku will head into the summer transfer window as one of the most coveted players. The attacking midfielder has also received international recognition with France, with Didier Deschamps calling him up to the senior squad for friendly matches against Ivory Coast and South Africa last month.
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The interest from Manchester City in Nkunku doesn’t come as a surprise, especially when the player shone against them in the Champions League group-stage games this season. Pep Guardiola remains in the hunt for a quality centre-forward to lead his team’s attack next season and has set his sights on Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland.
Signing Haaland, although, won’t be easy due to massive interest from several other European clubs. In that case, Manchester City could turn their attention towards Nkunku, and while the Frenchman is not an out-and-out striker like Haaland, he has the qualities to operate as a false 9 magnificently in Guardiola’s system next term.