Report: Manchester City closing in on £50-million Jorginho
Manchester City's hunt for a withdrawn midfielder has apparently led the club to Jorginho, the nucleus of Napoli's Scudetto-chasing team.
Pep Guardiola's outfit is prepared to spend £50 million on the 26-year-old, according to Goal's Sam Lee. Jorginho would be immediately tasked with filling the boots of Yaya Toure, the iconic figure who is expected to move on this summer, and challenge the starting spot of Fernandinho, who turns 33 in May.
Guardiola has declared himself a fan of Napoli's approach under Maurizio Sarri, and is reportedly impressed by the Brazilian-born Italian international's work as a deep-lying playmaker. Jorginho has posted 2,839 passes in Serie A this season - only one behind the league leader in that category, teammate and defender Kalidou Koulibaly - and they aren't just sideways efforts, with 1.7 key passes per 90 minutes.
Jorginho has surpassed Shakhtar Donetsk's Fred as City's top target in this position. Lee wrote that Napoli's hunt of the Serie A title means there won't be an early announcement of Jorginho's expected transfer to Manchester City, but he believes the move, plus the arrival of an attacker, could be wrapped up by the time the World Cup kicks off June 14.
Jorginho's agent has supposedly met with City representatives on several occasions, with the player already spurning the attentions of several other European clubs to push through a move to the recently anointed Premier League champion.
(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
In addition to Fred, Thiago Alcantara, a former favourite of Guardiola from his Bayern Munich reign, and Borussia Dortmund's Julian Weigl were rumoured to be switching to Manchester City.
City is allegedly looking into two unnamed options to supplement its ruthless frontline. Pursuits of Alexis Sanchez, now with Manchester United, and Riyad Mahrez were well documented during the January window, although it's understood the latter is no longer a priority in the upcoming summer market. Chelsea's Eden Hazard and Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe have also been touted as potential buys, but Lee said the search for a forward is "relatively up in the air."
Guardiola's artillery is already loaded. Sergio Aguero was named in the PFA Team of the Year, and shares time with Brazilian hotshot Gabriel Jesus. Alongside those strikers are often two players taken from choices of Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane, Bernardo Silva, and emerging academy product Phil Foden.