Manchester City have submitted a £55m offer for a “wonderful” midfielder, who has been identified as the heir to Kevin De Bruyne, according to a report.
Man City eyeing replacement for De Bruyne
De Bruyne is set to leave Man City at the end of the season, but rival Premier League clubs clearly seem to believe the Belgian has a lot left to give, with a number of sides recently expressing an interest.
Arsenal are now holding discussions over a shock deal for the 33-year-old, alongside Aston Villa, with club chiefs willing to back Unai Emery if he decides he wants to snap the City midfielder up on a free transfer this summer.
As such, Pep Guardiola will need to bring in a suitable heir, and although it will be a tall order to find any player capable of replicating what De Bruyne has done in a City shirt, a number of targets have now been identified.
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River Plate’s Franco Mastantuono is one player of interest, although, given his age, the 17-year-old Argentine may not be ready to go straight into the side, and Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz may be more of a ready-made replacement.
Man City are also looking at options from within the Premier League, and according to a report from Spain they have now submitted a €65m (£55m) offer for Tottenham Hotspur’s James Maddison.
Guardiola is known to be a huge fan of Maddison, and City have now made a concrete approach for his services, with the Englishman viewed as the ideal successor to De Bruyne in attacking midfield.
The 28-year-old is deemed to fit into Guardiola’s style of play perfectly, given his creativity and ability to connect with the attack, while his ability from set-pieces is also outlined as a major strength.
"Wonderful" Maddison impressing at Spurs
It has been an extremely disappointing season for Spurs in the Premier League, but the attacking midfielder has been one of their stand-out players, picking up 12 goals and 11 assists in 45 matches in all competitions.
As such, the former Leicester City man ranks highly across a range of key attacking metrics over the past year, when compared to other attacking midfielders and wingers.
Statistic
Average per 90
Assists
0.39 (93rd percentile)
Progressive passes
8.14 (98th percentile)
Shot-creating actions
4.82 (85th percentile)
The England international has also been singled out for high praise by BBC Five Live’s Ben Haines in the past.
Maddison is clearly a quality player, but the Tottenham star is set to turn 29 in November, meaning he is unlikely to be a long-term heir to De Bruyne, and his attacking numbers suggest he is not at the same level as the City legend, so there should be some reservations about the move.
