Manchester City could sign NINE this summer and are confident of landing Alexis Sanchez – report – City Watch

The summer transfer window has gotten off to an exciting start for Manchester City with the £43 million capture of Bernardo Silva from Monaco and the finally official £34.9 million signing of goalkeeper Ederson Moraes from Benfica.

Signs are that there is more to come. Much more, in fact. According to Sam Lee of Goal, City have three more priority signings – Alexis Sanchez, Benjamin Mendy and Kyle Walker – then will look to bulk up their squad with as many as NINE signings in total.

Sam reports that City’s sporting director, Txiki Begiristain, has been working on these deals for months and there is a huge confidence in the Etihad corridors of power that they will land all of their top targets. That includes Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez, undoubtedly the toughest deal to pull off with Arsenal currently refusing to even negotiate according to Marca.

However, the claim from Goal is that things are progressing towards a positive resolution on the Alexis front, helped by the fact that the 28-year-old Chilean prefers a move to City more than Bayern Munich, the club that Arsenal would be more inclined to sell him to.

If Alexis can’t be signed, City are pursuing Bayern Munich winger Douglas Costa as an alternative for the flanks, with the 26-year-old available for transfer this summer. He and Guardiola worked together during Pep’s tenure at the Allianz Arena and while not a Sanchez level player, he would be a fine addition to the squad, replacing the outgoing Nolito.

In addition to four full-backs, with Ryan Bertrand very much on the radar as well as Mendy and Walker, City continue to monitor centre-backs. With Virgil van Dijk’s move to Liverpool collapsing, the Blues are now better positioned to make a move for the player should they decide to recruit a centre-back. If not Van Dijk, they have other alternatives in mind, but it appears that a central defender is not an immediate priority.