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Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany can “understand the logic” behind Hugo Viana‘s pursuit of full-back duo Wesley and Nicolo Savona from Flamengo and Juventus respectively.
A new era is underway at the Etihad Stadium as Viana has now started full-time work as City’s new sporting director, working alongside outgoing chief Txiki Begiristain during a transition period, with their focus primarily on a much-anticipated squad rebuild this summer.
Man City have been tipped to spend big on a number of top targets including Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz, Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White, AC Milan’s Tijjani Reijnders and Juventus’ Andrea Cambiaso.
The latter of whom was strongly linked with the Citizens in January and is believed to have been added to a shortlist of right-back targets along with Newcastle United‘s Valentino Livramento.
However, with both players potentially valued in excess of £65m, Pep Guardiola‘s side have also identified a couple of cheaper alternatives in the full-back department.
Recent reports have claimed that Man City are pushing to sign 21-year-old Wesley from Brazilian giants Flamengo before the FIFA Club World Cup which begins in the middle of June, and he is valued at around £30m.
Meanwhile, multiple reports have stated that 22-year-old Juve starlet Savona has verbally agreed personal terms with Man City and the Italian is keen to join Guardiola’s side this summer.
Why is Man City chief Viana targeting Wesley and Savona?
McInerney has likened the potential additions of both Wesley and Savona to City’s signing of 21-year-old centre-back Abdukodir Khusanov, who joined the club in January from Lens for a reported £33.5m, and he is intrigued by how Viana will operate in his new role at the Etihad this summer.
“I think the most interesting thing really is why City are interested in [Wesley and Savona] and the type of transfer this will be,” McInerney told Sports Mole. “Both of a very similar age profile, both young full-backs, both wouldn’t be £70m players, both are the Khusanov-style signing. I think we’ll see a lot of this from Hugo Viana.
“Viana has come from a club in Portugal, Sporting Lisbon, where they couldn’t spend £60m-£70m on a player and he’s been tasked with finding younger talent who will come and gain value and move on, because that’s the model for these teams.
“[Viktor] Gyokeres is the most obvious example. He’s become a 90-goal-in-two-seasons player, which is absolutely absurd, signed from Coventry in the Championship. It’s that eye for talent which I think City are drawn to. I think it’s a necessary move for City to go for a sporting director like that.
“These days, a midfielder costs £100m from the Premier League, you just can’t do a squad rebuild at that level, you can’t sign five players like that, you can’t spend £500m in one summer and not fail PSR and Financial Fair Play, because it’s implausible.
“I think City have pointed to Viana because he will sign these potential gems. I don’t think they’re all going to work. We’ll probably sign five players at £30m. Vitor Reis is one of them already, Savinho fits that profile, Khusanov’s another, we’ve signed Juma Bah as well, and then someone like either Savona or Wesley.
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Wesley, Savona eyed as future stars by Man City?
“I think City are trying to get these young talents and turn them into £70m-£80m players, because that’s what it costs these days. We look at Cambiaso, and City still might go for him, but there’s rumours that Juventus were asking for £65m in January to get it done, and with bonuses and add-ons, that’s pushing £70m – it’s an absurd amount of money.
“If you could look at someone else who’s £25m instead, and they might not play 3,000 to 4,000 minutes in a season, but they might play half the games, and then a season after that they’ll start, they play regularly and suddenly they are the players that are worth that amount of money.
“The downside to that, of course, is you need that quality immediately. It’s a trade-off. I think [Man City should] sign some high-quality players and you sign some young ones at the same time. We are linked to people like Florian Wirtz, Gibbs-White, Tijjani Reijnders. They’re the ones of the higher quality.
“But signing people like Wesley, who are a little bit cheaper, that allows you then to spend money on the bigger names… Cambiaso and Reijnders could be around £140m. It’s insane seeing that money, whereas Wesley and Reijnders would be £100m. It’s not ideal, you want to be able to spend it all. Livramento is another who has been linked. £70m? I reckon [that is what] Newcastle would probably ask for, but it’s stupid money.
“I understand the logic behind it. We are going to see this kind of signing, and honestly I quite like it. I love that I’d never heard of Khusanov and he became this fan favourite almost immediately, because there’s a story to that…
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“There’s a mystery to that, and it’s fun for me as a football fan to watch these players become superstars and develop and improve with City. I think it’s fun for Guardiola to find the challenge as well.
“It does run the risk of acting like Brighton and playing like Brighton – no offence to Brighton, but they aren’t a Champions League winning side – that’s the slight risk, but I think it might be a necessary evil in 2025, given the financial state of football”.
Man City to sign two new full-backs this summer?
McInerney has tipped Man City to sign two new full-backs ahead of next season, with Milan loanee Kyle Walker and injury-prone Nathan Ake potentially moving on, adding: “I’d be amazed if City don’t sign a left-back and a right-back.
“There might be prospect signings, young signings worth £25m, £30m like Wesley or Savona, or there could be a £65m Cambiaso who can play on either side for what it’s worth, and it would be a really smart signing.
“We’ve also been linked with [Bournemouth‘s Milos] Kerkez briefly. There are rumours that he might have a release clause of around £45m to £50m – that would make a lot of sense.
“I can see City signing a couple. I think it’s necessary because Kyle Walker and [Nathan] Ake are likely to move on I would say.”
Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion.
