Man City close in on first summer signing: Super agent fuels €75m deal

Robin Bairner

23 Apr 2025 10:15 BST
3 min read

Pep Guardiola, Jorge Mendes, Man City, 2024/25 — © IMAGO

Manchester City are poised to secure a major summer transfer priority for manager Pep Guardiola as the Catalan seeks to rebuild the Etihad club.

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City gave their Champions League hopes a major boost on Tuesday as they overcame Aston Villa late on, but that is not about to stop the defending Premier League champions from strengthening their side in the summer.

Current ETV

Diogo Costa

Porto

Diogo Costa

Porto

ETV Range

€37M - €45.2M

Goalkeeper is one position that Guardiola has particularly targeted, with Ederson earmarked to leave after a long and successful stint at the club.

Porto shot-stopper Diogo Costa is the player liable to replace the Brazil star, with FootballTransfers exclusively revealing this interest back in January.

Interest also comes from the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United in the 25-year-old Portugal international.

Contact between City and Costa is said to have “intensified” in recent weeks, with super agent Jorge Mendes, who represents the player, “pushing for a deal to be made with Manchester City”, according to FootMercato.

How much will Diogo Costa cost?

Man City were convinced in February that Costa would become their next No.1 in the summer and they are now ready to talk with Porto over a potential transfer.

The keeper has a release clause of €75m in his current contract, which expires in June 2027. There is a big jump to that figure from his Estimated Transfer Value (ETV), which sit at a career-high €41.1m.

City are, therefore, liable to enter into negotiations with Porto over a fee, particularly after a record spend in the January transfer window, when they spent more than €200m securing Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis.

FootballTransfers understands that Benfica keeper Anatoliy Trubin is also being followed by City in case this deal falls through.

Diogo Costa is well-positioned to become City’s first signing of the summer, though it has already been confirmed that they will lose the iconic Kevin De Bruyne, who will leave as a free agent when his contract expires.