Sources: Manchester City prepare approach over signing Chelsea duo

Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca remains keen on a potential double transfer raid on his old club Chelsea for Enzo Fernandez and Malo Gusto.

First off, it’s important to note that, as of today, neither of these deals are advancing, but I’ve been reliably told that that could change soon.

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Fernandez and Gusto both advanced far in the World Cup so are on a break before pre-season, but they remain firmly in Man City’s plans, so contacts could accelerate very soon.

City have already spent big on Elliot Anderson this summer, but the plan was always to sign a second midfielder amid some doubts over Rodri’s future.

Man City eye Enzo Fernandez amid Rodri uncertainty

As has been widely reported by Fabrizio Romano and others, City would ideally like to keep Rodri and have a new contract offer on the table for the World Cup winner, though he’s yet to accept as he considers a return to Spain.

If Rodri gives the green light, it’s expected that Real Madrid could launch a move for him, but this has not been 100% decided either way just yet.

Even so, City may well make another midfield signing anyway, with Sandro Tonali having also been on their list before Tottenham won the race for his signature. My understanding is that they remain keen on another signing of that calibre, and this may well be tied to Rodri’s future, but I can’t confirm that for the moment.

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Making something of an educated guess, it seems City are expecting Rodri to leave and that’s why they’re very keen to do something with Fernandez, who is known to want out of Chelsea.

The problem, however, is his price tag, which could end up being more than the £116m MCFC paid for Anderson. Some sources suggest Chelsea want as much as £120m, though City would like to negotiate for something just under £100m.

We’ll have a clearer understanding once we know what Rodri’s decision is, but it’s also possible that City would still like an extra signing in that position anyway – that’s not information I have at this moment in time.

Malo Gusto to Man City still one to watch

I’ve also been told that City will try again for Malo Gusto, though previous contacts have not proven fruitful.

The France international is someone Maresca rates very highly, and he’s keen on a more natural right-back than Matheus Nunes, who has adjusted well to that role after initially being a midfielder.

However, previous information I’ve received is that Gusto is too expensive for City, and there’s not much room for any negotiation as Chelsea don’t want to sell.

So, it might be that this is unlikely to go anywhere, but a few people I’ve spoken to think City will try again to see if a deal can be done for Gusto when they ask about Fernandez.

One thing in City’s favour here is that Gusto is understood to be keen on the move, even if he’s not expected to push too hard for Chelsea to let him go.

All in all, this could be an exciting double raid on Chelsea for City, but it’s also ambitious and potentially very expensive, so we’ll have to see how this saga develops.