Man City Transfer News: City eyeing 18-cap RB as Pep prepares to bin Nunes

(Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Manchester City have reportedly identified an early summer target as Pep Guardiola aims to solve one of his squad’s biggest conundrums.

The Citizens went on another January spending spree, signing Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi for big money as they sought to fix gaps in their defence and rejuvenate their attack.

Despite the arrivals of the experienced Premier League duo, City’s task of overhauling Arsenal at the top of the Premier League has not got any easier, with the Gunners opening up a six-point lead following City’s recent draw at Spurs.

But it seems that there are already eyes on the next campaign, as reports are suggesting City want to finally bolster their backline with a perfect fit for the right-back slot.

According to Fichajes, Man City are interested in bringing Real Sociedad right-back Jon Aramburu to the Etihad in the summer.

Matheus Nunes has been City’s starting right-back for the best part of a year, despite being signed as a centre-midfielder following his arrival from Wolves.

But last season tailed off badly, with City ending the campaign trophyless for the first time since 2016/17.

Having been unable to recover from Kyle Walker’s departure, reports emerged during January suggesting City were interested in ex-Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, amid the England full-back’s slow start to life at Real Madrid.

However, in signing Aramburu, Pep Guardiola may be about to place a round peg in a round hole for the first time in a while.

The Venezuela international is a trusted member of the Real Sociedad setup, having started all but three of their league games to date, making the transition from youth team to senior squad with ease.

It appears that Aramburu’s blend of offensive threat and defensive discipline is of great interest to Guardiola, with the 23-year-old’s profile something that ‘seduces’ the City manager.

While Real Sociedad await City’s official approach, it could be argued that a new right-back is well overdue at Eastlands.

Discounting the emergence of Rico Lewis from the youth team, City have not welcomed a new right-back into the squad since the arrival of Joao Cancelo in August 2019.

City have gone from being over-stocked in that area to vastly underwhelming, and it may be down to Aramburu to bring back some solidity to the right-back role.

Graduated in Sport Journalism (BA) with first-class honours from the University of Brighton and has since had bylines in The Times, sports business publication SportsPro, Football FanCast and The Gooner fanzine.

You must be logged in to post a comment.