Manchester City ‘working in silence’ to sign Brazil midfielder as PSG hesitate – report

Manchester City are quietly working on a potential deal for Napoli’s Brazil midfielder Allan, Naples-based newspaper Il Mattino claimed on Saturday.

City’s alleged interest in the 28-year-old has appeared several times in the Italian press of late, with Pep Guardiola known to be in the market for a new holding midfielder.

With signs that Frenkie de Jong is heading to Barcelona and Adrien Rabiot possibly also Camp Nou-bound, Guardiola and his coaching staff will be looking at their options, with the experienced Allan a possibility and well-suited to the English game.

Paris Saint-Germain have been exploring a deal to sign the Napoli star this winter, but Aurelio De Laurentiis, the club’s owner and a notoriously tough negotiator, has valued the player at €100 million, with PSG wanting to pay around half of that.

And the claim from Il Mattino is that while PSG hesitate and reflect on what to do next, Manchester City have been ‘working in great secrecy’ to try and sign Allan – most likely next summer with Guardiola repeatedly ruling out any major business in January.

The twice-capped Brazil international is a similar age to what Fernandinho was when he arrived from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2013 and would rotate and ultimately replace him in the City midfield were he to arrive.

Like PSG, City are unlikely to entertain a €100 million price-tag and would look to knock it down, though after last summer’s debacle with Jorginho, Txiki Begiristain may be wary of doing business with the Serie A club.

Allan is one of several candidates to reinforce the Man City midfield, with Lyon’s Tanguy Ndombele and Wolves hot-shot Ruben Neves two others, while West Ham’s impressive young Englishman, Declan Rice, is another name in the rumour mill.