EXCLUSIVE: Man City lowball Porto in Nico Gonzalez pursuit

Steve Kay

3 Feb 2025 11:34 GMT
5 min read

Nico Gonzalez, Man City, Porto — © IMAGO

Manchester City are hoping to finalise a Deadline Day deal for Nico Gonzalez, but FootballTransfers understands they are yet to reach an agreement with Porto.

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The Spain U21 international has excelled since moving to Portugal from Barcelona for €8.4 million in 2023, and we have been informed that Man City are pushing to complete a late deal before the winter window shuts at 23:00 GMT.

However, Man City are currently unwilling to trigger Gonzalez’s €60m release clause and are hoping to agree a fee closer to the €40m mark.

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Barcelona crucially included a 40% sell-on clause when they offloaded Gonzalez to Porto and Martin Anselmi’s side are therefore eager to maximise the Spaniard’s transfer fee.

We understand that Barcelona could use the funds earned through Gonzalez’s potential move to Man City in their bid to land Athletic Club star Nico Williams later this year.

Arsenal are also interested in signing the Spain star and we have been told that the Gunners are willing to pay more than his €58m release clause to land him this summer.

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A post shared by Nico González Iglesias (@nico14)

Man City’s January transfer business

Man City have already spent €158m on new signings during the winter window, with Omar Marmoush (Eintracht Frankfurt), Abdukodir Khusanov (RC Lens), Vitor Reis (Palmeiras) and Juma Bah (Real Valladolid) all arriving at the Etihad Stadium in January.

However, they are eager to complete a deal for Gonzalez amid their current issues in midfield.

Guardiola’s side have only won 13 of their 29 matches in all competitions since Rodri suffered an ACL injury in September, and they were thumped 5-1 by Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.

Juventus star Douglas Luiz has also been linked with a move back to Man City, amid his lack of game time in Turin, although the reigning Premier League champions are currently prioritising a move for Gonzalez.