TBR Football can exclusively reveal that Manchester City could go toe-to-toe with Manchester United in the pursuit of Sporting CP winger Francisco Trincao.
Manchester United scouted Trincao in January alongside Xavi Simons when RB Leipzig beat Sporting 2-1 in the Champions League.
The former Barcelona attacker has one year left on his contract and at 25, there remains a significant upside in his game.
Naturally, Trincao is attracting interest from both Manchester United and now Manchester City.
Man City eyeing Ruben Amorim and Manchester United target target Francisco Trincao
Graeme Bailey — TBR Football’s chief correspondent has been informed that City are “huge admirers” of Trincao — whose potential signing has been approved by Ruben Amorim at United.
While the 40-year-old does not have the responsibility of picking which players the Devils should sign, Amorim would love Geovany Quenda’s signing and the same applies to another one of his former players.
Trincao, who scored 23 goals and 27 assists under Ruben Amorim is expected to leave Sporting at the end of the season, even though the Portuguese international’s exit is far from confirmed. The champions of Portugal would like one of their star players to sign a new contract but that looks unlikely at the moment.
| GOALS | 23 |
| ASSISTS | 27 |
From Manchester City’s standpoint, it is Hugo Viana who is primarily responsible for their interest in Trincao.
TBR Football understands that when Viana was in talks with the Sky Blues ahead of being appointed, future signings were discussed and Trincao’s name was brought up. Kevin De Bruyne could join San Diego FC and with the futures of Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish and James McAtee being uncertain, Manchester City could very well need fresh faces in attack.
Three other clubs want to sign Trincao apart from Man United and Man City
Trincao is having an impressive season for Sporting, with nine goals and 13 assists to his name in all competitions this season.
| STARTS | 41 |
| GOALS | 9 |
| ASSISTS | 13 |
Naturally, the ex-Wolves forward’s performances have caught the eye. TBR Football have also been notified that Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham have also monitored Trincao’s progress over the past 18 months — with Manchester United and Manchester City already battling for his signature.
A five-club race could well kickstart to sign one of Europe’s most in-demand widemen in the summer, with Chelsea being the only side out of the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ who have yet to show any interest in signing him.
