Manchester City and Juventus ‘most serious’ about signing 25-year-old Portugal star – City Watch

Transfer rumours come and go, but one that persists is that Manchester City want to sign Sporting CP midfielder William Carvalho, a 25-year-old Portuguese international who is enjoying a good season at the Lisbon club.

Rumours of City’s interest intensified when Carvalho signed for Media Base Sports, the football agency that also represents Luis Suárez, ans is controlled by Pep Guardiola’s brother, Pere Guardiola.

And according to Portuguese newspaper A Bola today, City’s interest is real, with the Premier League club one of two major teams with the most serious interest in Carvalho.

Italian champions Juventus are the other side with eyes on the Angolan-born midfielder, who has 31 caps for his country and was part of the team that won Euro 2016. Juventus see him as a likely candidate to replace Sami Khedira, who is out of contract in 2019 and could be heading to MLS.

Carvalho has been touted as a replacement for Yaya Touré, not just because of his physical attributes, but his ball-playing ability. He has averaged 71.2 passes per game this season, completing 88.2% of them. In comparison, Touré has averaged 66.1 passes per game this season with a success rate of 89.6%.

Rising to fame under Leonardo Jardim, the current Monaco coach, during the 2013/14 season, William has been linked with many big European clubs. He is now one of the most coveted players in Sporting’s squad, but club president Bruno de Carvalho will only sell him for a big offer, having recently claimed that €30 million would only buy one of William’s boots… without the laces!

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