Manchester City are interested in signing Real Madrid midfielder Marcos Llorente and are willing to pay €65m for his signature, claims El Chiringuito TV. (h/t Football Espana)
Marcos Llorente, 24, has made 37 senior appearances for Real Madrid, although he has made just 12 appearances in all competitions this season. He has had a start-stop season due to injuries but despite returning to full fitness last month, the Spaniard has made just two of the last five matchday squads under Zinedine Zidane.
Zidane, who returned back to Real Madrid last month, wants Marcos Llorente to go out on loan at the end of the season to buy regular game time. That clearly tells the 24-year-old won’t be a part of Zidane’s plans next campaign at Santiago Bernabeu.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola should take advantage of Llorente’s situation at Real Madrid and make a move for him in the summer. In fact, Guardiola wants to sign the Spaniard as a replacement for Benjamin Mendy, claims El Chiringuito TV. (h/t the Daily Star)
Mendy joined City from AS Monaco in the summer of 2017 but has endured a torrid time due to injuries over the two seasons. The Frenchman has featured just once in the Premier League since November 2018 after undergoing knee surgery. The left-back’s recurrent injury problems has forced Guardiola to play the likes of Oleksandr Zinchenko and Fabian Delph out of position this campaign.
And interest in Llorente suggests the City tactician wants a natural, reliable option at left-back to compete with Mendy from next term. Although Llorente is a defensive midfielder by trade, he is also comfortable operating at left-back. Even the Spaniard will offer options in midfield for Guardiola, as Ilkay Gundogan is stalling on signing a new deal and Fernandinho set to turn 34 in May.
A fantastic passer of the ball, Llorente loves to sit deep in midfield and dictate the tempo of the game. He is an archetypal player for Guardiola, someone who is so comfortable in possession as well as solid in breaking up play. That’s exactly what Fernandinho does for City and why he is so crucial to Guardiola’s system.
But Fernandinho has started ageing, with injuries starting to hamper him in recent times. Llorente would be the perfect player to replace the Brazilian due to his passing range, superb understanding of the game and aggressive tackling.
All in all, the 24-year-old Spaniard has it in him to be the long-term replacement for Fernandinho that Guardiola so desperately needs at the moment.
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By signing Llorente, Guardiola will kill two birds from one stone and that makes his acquisition at the end of the season so vital for the Premier League giants.