Sold for £42m and they want him back for free: FC Porto target Manchester City defender – City Watch

City Watch

FC Porto sold Eliaquim Mangala for a reported £32 million in 2014, but leaked documents by Football Leaks revealed the cost, once City had purchased all of his sporting rights, was just shy of £42 million.

And now the Portuguese giants are considering re-signing the French defender – for FREE!

Mangala is out of contract in the summer and while the likes of Galatasaray and Inter have been pondering a move for him this month on an initial loan, Porto are hatching a plan to take him back to the Estádio do Dragão.

It’s reported by A BOLA in Portugal today that Mangala, a two-time league champion with Porto, is now a name being discussed by the club’s technical staff.

Porto expect to lose Eder Militao, a defender City considered while he was at São Paulo, in a big money transfer next summer with Real Madrid and Manchester United keen.

And after re-signing Pepe, they are thinking about also bringing back another old boy, Mangala, on a free transfer to partner the Portuguese veteran in their defence.

City have tried to sell Mangala and he snubbed a move to Crystal Palace in 2017 after a £23 million deal had been agreed between the clubs. A serious injury while on loan at Everton last season then meant he couldn’t be sold in the summer of 2018, with City now poised to lose a big money signing for nothing in June.