Guardiola sends €24m to Barcelona as Man City with fourth major signing

Robin Bairner

• 1 Feb 2025 16:00 GMT
• 2 min read

Pep Guardiola is set to delight Barcelona with his latest Manchester City signing.

Although Man City have already completed a string of big deals during the transfer window, headlined by Omar Marmoush’s switch from Eintracht Frankfurt for around €80 million, the out-of-sorts Etihad outfit are still seeking to achieve more.

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Juventus star Andrea Cambiaso is a player who has been targeted by Guardiola’s side, but it will take a huge bid to persuade the Turin side to sell the versatile defender.

Instead, it appears that City are now seeking to add more quality to their midfield, which has suffered chronically due to the injury to Ballon d’Or winner Rodri.

With this in mind, Guardiola has set his eyes on former Barcelona star Nico Gonzalez, who is currently playing with Porto.

Relevo reports that City are ready to make the €60 million release clause of the 23-year-old. Crucially, Barcelona have a 40% sell-on clause in the player, which means the cash-strapped Camp Nou outfit will be due €24m should the deal be struck.

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Nico Gonzalez bid made

Fabrizio Romano says that Man City have already lodged a bid for the Spain U21 international.

“Nico Gonzalez, the former Barcelona midfielder, 23 years old, is a new target for Manchester City today. They approached Porto on Friday,” the football transfer news reporter told his YouTube channel.

Current ETV

Nico González

M, DM (C)

Porto

Nico González

M, DM (C)

Porto

€12.9M

ETV Range

€9.7M - €16.1M

View full profile

“It’s been a crazy day for Porto because they sold Galeno to Al-Ahli – they were very busy with that deal because the Saudi market was closing. So Man City respected the timing of Porto. They started with an approach.

“His release clause is €60m but Barcelona have 40% sell-on clause on Nico Gonzalez. Now City are in negotiations. Nico is the priority of City in the midfield.

“Another player they considered was Sergi Altimira. He’s more of a playmaker than a No.8.”