Soccer

Manchester City prepare to bid for Brighton left back Cucurella

Catalan has impressed Guardiola since his move to Premier League from Getafe

Marc Cucurella: has impressed since his move to Brighton and could be set for a move to champions Manchester City. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images
Marc Cucurella: has impressed since his move to Brighton and could be set for a move to champions Manchester City. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images
Thu Jun 16 2022 - 18:20

Manchester City are poised to bid for Brighton’s Marc Cucurella, their top target at left back. Pep Guardiola is determined to sign his fellow Catalan after being impressed by his performances in the Premier League.

Cucurella joined Brighton from Getafe last August, after a spell at Barcelona in which he did not progress beyond the B team. City’s interest is well established and their first offer is expected within days.

Brighton stand to make a sizeable profit if they sell Cucurella, who joined for £15.4m and wept tears of joy after scoring his first goal for the club in May’s 4-0 win over Manchester United.

Although Oleksandr Zinchenko and the right-footed João Cancelo played successfully at left back last season to help City to the title, Guardiola wants another specialist in the position. Benjamin Mendy is indefinitely suspended.

READ MORE

City have bought Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund for £51m and the chairman, Khaldoon al-Mubarak, has said two more signings are planned.

City have agreed to sell their Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu to Southampton for £12m plus add-ons, with a buy-back option and a percentage of any future sale.

Another Brighton player, Yves Bissouma, is having a medical at Tottenham after agreement was reached over a move for £25m plus add-ons. The midfielder has been at Brighton since 2018.

Liverpool have agreed a £6.5m deal to buy the Aberdeen right back Calvin Ramsay. The Scotland Under-21s international will sign a five-year contract and become their third summer acquisition, after Darwin Núñez and Fabio Carvalho.

There has been an accent on youth in Liverpool’s dealings, with Ramsay 19 next month, Núñez 23 this month and Fabio Carvalho 20 in August. Aberdeen will receive a guaranteed club record £4m for Ramsay plus add-ons and accepted Liverpool’s offer after changes to the add-ons structure.

Ramsay played 24 league games for Aberdeen last season, after breaking into the first team towards the end of the previous campaign, and is regarded by Liverpool as having the talent to compete for a place in the immediate term as well as being one for the future. He won the Scottish Football Writers’ Association’s young player of the year award at the end of April.

Sadio Mané is close to leaving Liverpool for Bayern Munich after the arrival of Núñez for a fee that could reach £85m. The Senegal forward has a verbal agreement with Bayern on terms for a three-year contract and the German club are preparing a new offer which they hope will seal a transfer.

Fulham are progressing in talks to buy the Israel forward Manor Solomon from Shakhtar Donetsk and pushing to sign the defensive midfielder João Palhinha from Sporting Lisbon. The Portuguese is also a target for Wolves.

Nottingham Forest are in discussions to sign the left-footed centre back Moussa Niakhaté from Mainz.

The former France Under-21s captain has spent four seasons with Mainz after spells in his homeland with Valenciennes and Metz. Niakhaté has attracted interest from a number of Premier League clubs, including West Ham and Newcastle, in recent months and helped Mainz to finish eighth in the Bundesliga last season.

Forest are increasingly confident of securing a deal to sign Manchester United’s goalkeeper Dean Henderson on loan with an option to buy next summer.

They are battling a number of clubs to sign the winger Morgan Gibbs-White from Wolves. The 22-year-old impressed on loan in the Championship last season at Sheffield United and missed the penalty that ensured Forest made the playoff final.