Fabrizio Romano Reveals Man City Now Want Liverpool Midfield Target After Losing Declan Rice Chase To Arsenal
Fabrizio Romano reveals Man City now want Liverpool midfield target after losing Declan Rice chase to Arsenal
Man City manager Pep Guardiola and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp
Transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano has revealed which player Manchester City are now targeting after losing out on Declan Rice to Arsenal.
Arsenal took the first steps towards signing Rice recently by sending offers worth £80million and £90m to West Ham for him. However, West Ham rejected both proposals as they want £100m for their captain.
Arsenal struggling to reach an agreement with West Ham allowed City to swoop in with a bid of their own. It came in at £90m, though City viewed it as being more favourable than Arsenal’s best offer as more of the money would have been paid up front.
But West Ham were left ‘unimpressed’ by City’s bid, according to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, as they had already told Pep Guardiola’s side they wanted £100m.
Arsenal are now poised to win the race for the England midfielder after launching a third, improved offer worth £100m plus £5m in add-ons. City have decided they will not match this fee, which means it may not be long before Rice ends up at the Emirates.
Following Ilkay Gundogan’s free transfer to Barcelona, City are in need of a new midfielder and this means they must now get to work on signing an alternative to Rice.
Writing on Twitter, Romano has provided a big update on City’s plans. He reveals they have ‘entered the race’ for Celta Vigo’s midfield ace Gabri Veiga.
The 21-year-old La Liga star is ‘one of the options being considered’ now that a deal for Rice is no longer viable.
Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea all converge on same star
Romano adds that Liverpool and Chelsea both ‘remain interested’ in Veiga following his exceptional campaign. He bagged 11 goals in 36 games to help Celta Vigo finish 13th in the Spanish top flight.
City know exactly how much Veiga will cost, and it isn’t an astronomical fee either. His release clause stands at €40m (£34.6m), which means he could be signed for way less than Rice.
Of course, Veiga is not on Rice’s level yet, while he is also lacking Premier League experience. But he has huge potential and the £34.6m fee could therefore end up being an absolute steal for City.
On June 22, reports in Spain revealed how Liverpool were ready to activate Veiga’s release clause. They had also drawn up an £83,000-a-week contract for him.
However, Jurgen Klopp may now have to watch on as the Spain U21 starlet heads to fierce rivals City instead.
