Manchester City and Chelsea ‘pressuring’ Juventus to sell €50m rated star – report – City Watch
Manchester City and Chelsea are trying to sign Juventus left-back Alex Sandro according to today’s edition of La Stampa in Italy.
The 26-year-old is not a new target for the Citizens, who have been linked with or tried to sign him several times over the past couple of years. He was reported to be Pep Guardiola’s number one target for the left-back position this summer until the Benjamin Mendy stories took over.
But the Turin-based daily newspaper reckons both City and Chelsea are ‘applying pressure’ on Juventus, who might only begin to consider a sale if offers over €50 million (£43.4 million) were to arrive.
It is said that Chelsea have so far been unwilling to meet that valuation, but the player remains a primary target for boss Antonio Conte who knows he must strengthen his title-winning squad with European football returning to Stamford Bridge next season.
Guardiola also admires the Brazilian but after widespread reports last month that City were going all-out for him, the talk died down.
City could sign as many as FOUR full-backs this summer, with Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy having been released on free transfers and Aleksandar Kolarov preferred as a left-sided centre-back by Pep. Even young right-back Pablo Maffeo looks poised for another loan spell at Girona, leaving City with basically no full-backs to call upon.
Speculation that Ryan Bertrand could be one of the left-backs brought in has intensified in recent days as talks for Mendy of Monaco drag on. And if there is no progress for Mendy, it isn’t out of the question that sporting director Txiki Begiristain could turn his attention back to Alex Sandro as the search for elite full-backs continues.
