Manchester City Emerge Front Runners For Liverpool Target As Pep Guardiola Eyes Reinforcement In January
Manchester City will be looking to salvage their season by bringing in new players for the second half of the season as they lie sixth in the Premier League table, 14 points behind leaders Liverpool who have a game in hand and have also been knocked out of the Carabao Cup.
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Pep Guardiola's side find themselves on the brink of elimination in the Champions League as they languish in the 22nd position and will need to win their remaining two games to stand any chance of progressing to the next stage of the competition.
Guardiola is currently facing a crisis that he has never experienced before in his managerial career and could turn to the January transfer window to refresh his squad with younger players as several of his key players are on the wrong side of 30 including Kevin De Bruyne, Kyler Walker, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan.
One of the star players to be linked to Man City for several months is Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi who has a €60m release clause. Zubimendi is also a top target for Liverpool after missing out on the Euro 2024 winner.
The 25-year-old opted to stay in Spain for another season. After turning down a move to Anfield in the summer Zubimendi told El Diario Vasco: “I went on vacation, and it caught me by surprise. It wasn’t something I had planned.
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“I reacted when the situation arose. It was an uncomfortable time for me But I weighed the pros and cons and concluded that the best option was to stay.”
“I don’t believe in “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunities,” adds the Spain midfielder, crucially. “If you’re good and want to achieve something, it will come to you. There’s no need to rush.
“I looked at my personal progression, who I am, and the club’s project,” he says. "I stayed because I knew this season would be important for me in the team, and I still had steps to take.
"It wasn’t that hard of a decision.” There were many reasons for my decision, but I was selfish and thought about what was best for me. And that was staying.”
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According to ESPN, Liverpool remain interested in Zubimendi, however, Manchester City have now emerged as the front runners if the Liga Liga side are prepared to do a deal.
The report claims that Guardiola wants to reinforce his midfield following the loss of Ballon d'Or winner Rodri who sustained a cruciate ligament injury back in September and Zubimendi is the leading target.
It is believed that Real Madrid are also tracking Zubimendi ahead of a possible summer move, therefore the defending Premier League champions may find it tough to convince the player, and his club, to do a deal in January.
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LFC Transfer Room Football Correspondent. Covered the fortunes of Liverpool for the past three years. Follow Joseph on X (formerly Twitter) @joseph_agbobli