Hugo Viana preparing first Man City signing as Romano CONFIRMS deal

Robin Bairner

12 Oct 2024 08:32 CDT
2 min read

Manchester City are set to announce that Hugo Viana will replace Txiki Begiristain as sporting director at the Premier League champions, and the Portuguese has wasted no time in lining up his first signing for the club.

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Begiristain is set to leave Pep Guardiola’s club at the end of the season, with Fabrizio Romano having announced that the paperwork is signed.

Viani was rapidly established as the favourite for the role, and he now has it.

Romano tweeted: “Hugo Viana has signed his contract as new Manchester City director starting from season 2025/26!

“Viana leaves Sporting and becomes the replacement for Txiki Begiristain who’s set to leave Man City.”

Gyokeres to City?

According to a report from Portugal, he has already lined up Viktor Gyokeres to follow him from Sporting CP to the Etihad Stadium.

This deal, however, is dependent on a domino effect of transfers, with Barcelona required to complete their dream deal to sign Erling Haaland in order for this to happen.

Haaland has been tipped to leave City should Pep Guardiola depart the club, which the former Barca and Bayern Munich boss has hinted towards as a possibility at the end of the season. The Catalans, meanwhile, are hopefully they will be fuelled by a bumper new Nike deal that should ease their financial issues.

Equally, though, the Norway international, who is soon to become a father, has been spotted house hunting in England, fuelling suggestions that he could be ready to sign a new deal with the Etihad side.

Current ETV

Viktor Gyökeres

F (C)

Sporting CP

Viktor Gyökeres

F (C)

Sporting CP

ETV Range

€18.6M - €31.1M

If Haaland leaves City, Gyokeres has been teed up as his replacement – but Viana has been warned that he will not get any favours from his former club.

It is stated that while the former Portugal midfielder may be able to hold some sway in negotiations for a player who has also been heavily linked with Arsenal, Sporting are set to stick to their guns and demand that his full release clause of around €100 million is met in full before any deal of granted.

Gyokeres, who is under contract until 2028, has been in electric form of Sporting this season. In 11 matches, he has scored 12 goals and created three more.