The season ended in the best possible way for the Citizens. They defended the title, won the decade-awaited Champions League trophy and the FA Cup, so a quiet summer was expected. Pep Guardiola set only two tasks before his sports sector: to provide him with a midfield player (Mateo Kovacic) and a defender (Josko Guardiol). And with those wishes fulfilled, Manchester City was ready to close the transfer market already. However, the unexpected departure of Riyad Mahrez to Saudi Arabia spoiled the plans of the European champions in the market. Although bringing in a new winger was not on his agenda, there are increasing chances that City will strengthen the offensive line by the end of the transfer window, and many factors will decide who will that be, writes The Athletic.Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson on Michael Olise:“Clubs are circling around him and we are going to have a fight on our hands to make sure he stays with us.” pic.twitter.com/QjvcBNwO3c— Chris Wheatley (@ChrisWheatley) August 1, 2023 The first and very likely crucial factor concerns the status of Bernardo Silva. For a few years now, the Portuguese has been trying to realize his dream of playing for Barcelona, but his wish never came true. It seems that this season is the worst of them all, as the Catalans are (again) in financial plight, and Silva won’t come cheap at all. And although Guardiola is not in the habit of keeping players in his team against their will, aware that this would only damage the atmosphere in the team, City desperately wants to keep the Portuguese. Not only is he very important for Guardiola, who openly favors Silva, but he can cover several positions, and he is already under contract, so extending him would be the cheapest possible option. Another great deal by City: 16 million for a teenager with no minutes in the first teamGuardiola’s plan was to use Silva as an attacking midfielder, where Gundogan also operated, but Mahrez’s departure created a new dilemma for the Spanish tactician, and that is to deploy Silva as a winger. The Citizens are looking at talented French winger/attacking midfielder Michael Olise from Crystal Palace, but the London club, who already lost Wilfried Zaha as a free agent want to earn serious money on their player, for which they paid only 8 million to Reading in 2021. So, they are asking around 60 million euros. Olise is also on Chelsea’s radar, so his arrival at the Etihad is not a certain thing at all. Another option is highly rated Rennes winger Jeremy Doku, but Guardiola might decide to put Silva on the wing and promote Cole Palmer in midfield. Last season he was playing sporadically, this year all loan bids for him were rejected, which also means something.”It’s a matter of numbers – how many names you have in the team. We’ll see if we need wings or players inside, we’ll see what happens with the players who have come back from loans, who will stay and who won’t. A few things will happen” Guardiola said shortly after Mahrez’s transfer to Al Ahly was confirmed. Everybody is waiting for his assessment. ##NAJAVA_MECA_7403134##
