From Spain: Man City could rival Bayern Munich for the man who benched Benjamin Mendy – City Watch

Manchester City could provide competition to Bayern Munich for Atletico Madrid defender Lucas Hernandez, according to Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo.

Bayern have been tipped to buy Lucas, 22, either this month or in the summer, having shown a willingness to trigger the player’s €80 million (£72 million) release clause.

However, Pep Guardiola is said to be a huge fan of the player’s profile and would be interested in taking him to the Etihad Stadium, while there is also interest from local rivals Manchester United.

Hernandez would not be against a move to England it is reported, and that would be bad news for Benjamin Mendy, who has been benched by Lucas at left-back for the French national team.

Lucas can play either as a left-back or left-sided central defender, the sort of versatility Guardiola is known to admire in a player, and City may be in the market for a left-back in the near future with injury prone Mendy the only specialist in the position.

City tried to sign Lucas and his brother Theo in 2016, a double bid confirmed by Atletico Madrid’s CEO.

It was then claimed by reputable Cadena COPE in 2017 that City had struck an agreement to sign Lucas for the 2018-19 season, but that didn’t pan out, perhaps because of Aymeric Laporte’s signing in January 2018.

NOTICIA @partidazocope: Acuerdo City – ATM por Lucas Hernández. Si el TAS les sanciona mañana, saldría al City la temporada 18/19 (50M €). pic.twitter.com/YQS2lDzRKK

— El Partidazo de COPE (@partidazocope) May 31, 2017