Man City defender wanted by European giants with Pep Guardiola's side eyeing £40m sale
09/05/2024 16:51
Manchester City defender Yan Couto is attracting interest from the Premier League and around Europe, talkSPORT understands.
It’s understood Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus and a number of English clubs are keen on a summer move for the right-back.
The 21-year-old joined Man City in the summer of 2020 following interest from Barcelona and has spent much of the time since out on loan.
During that time he has spent three seasons on loan with Girona, playing a key role for Spain’s surprise package side this term.
Girona challenged Real Madrid for the LaLiga title this season and are firmly on track to secure Champions League football for the first time in their history as a result.
Playing largely as a right midfielder, Couto has scored two goals and provided ten assists for his teammates, leading to major European interest.
Couto is yet to play a first team fixture for Pep Guardiola‘s team, something that is unlikely to change with Man City in no position to guarantee him first-team football next term.
This is largely due to Kyle Walker’s undroppable presence at right-back, with Rico Lewis and John Stones also able to play in the role.
As a result, Man City could be willing to cash in on the player.
It’s understood that, if City were to sell, they could command a fee in the region of £40million – the fee former City defender Pedro Porro went for when he left Sporting Lisbon for Tottenham last year.
Porro had spent two years on loan with the Portuguese side before joining for £7.2m, a fee that was dwarfed just 12 months later when he joined Ange Postecoglou’s side on a permanent basis.
Porro came through the ranks at Girona and then signed for City in 2019 but, like Couto, never made a senior appearance for the Premier League champions.
He spent three years on the books at the Etihad Stadium before his permanent move to Sporting, and then returned to the Premier League with Spurs just one year later.
City banked a cool £10m in sell-on fees as part of the deal, and it appears they could look to do the same with Couto this summer with a host of suitors circling.
