Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
If there is one department in which Manchester City are short in at present it is that of full back, after the summer departures of Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy and even thanks to the experimental nature of Pep Guadiola also Jesus Navas the club have identified a number of players to full the void that has been left on either side of the back four.
Primarily though it has been the right back berth which has been their main focus as of late with the likes of Kyle Walker and Dani Alves both being heavily linked with moves to The Etihad in the past few weeks, be that as it may though they not have been successful landing either target as yet and they could be set for a hammer blow in regards to their prospective transfer targets.
That is because PSG are believed to have made a late bid for Dani Alves who left Juventus last week and it is one that could very well hijack any potential move to Manchester and a chance for the player to once again link up with City boss Guardiola after their time together at Barcelona.
Now nothing has been confirmed either way in the race to acquire the Brazilian international but should Alves pick Ligue 1 over the Premier League next season then the repercussions could well be felt by City as they will then look to step up their hunt of Tottenham’s Kyle Walker.
It is a well known fact that their chairman Daniel Levy loves to drive a hard bargain and will look to squeeze an extra million or two out of any buying club wherever possible but in the case of City and a potential deal for Kyle Walker then we could be looking at a hefty increase on the value of the former Sheffield United player.
Quite simply should Alves go on to complete a move to PSG then it puts Tottenham very much in the driving seat in terms of any negotiations that would see Walker swap Wembley for The Etihad. Depending on what sources you have read as of late the general consensus seems to be that the fee required to complete the deal would be in the region of £40m.
But on the other hand should the team that finished a place behind Tottenham in the Premier League last season miss out on signing Alves then they will do well to get any change out of £50m if they eventually do end up signing their other right back transfer target.
With City then putting all their eggs in one basket it will allow Daniel Levy to increase any potential transfer fee as he will be fully aware that his has one of his clubs nearest rivals over a barrel in terms of negotiations and when it comes to that aspect he very rarely loses.
I think there is almost an acceptance that Tottenham and Manchester City will eventually do a deal but with these developments it looks like last season’s league runners up could end up getting themselves an even bigger windfall then first expected.
Obviously the preference from Tottenham would be to keep the player and they themselves have never intimated that they are looking to sell one of their most prized assets but if push comes to shove and his does end up moving on then a fee of £50m would certainly soften the blow.
Therefore Daniel Levy will be keeping a keen eye on who wins the race to sign Dani Alves, if it is PSG then they are not only going to make sure Manchester City miss out on a signing but then it is also going to cost them more to land another. The battle lines have been firmly drawn, can PSG and then by extension Tottenham come out on top?
