Man City boss Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Rodri will miss the whole season through injury
Manchester City have reportedly made Inter Milan midfielder Nico Barella their primary target as they seek to fill the void left by Rodri. The Spain international will miss the remainder of the season due to an ACL injury and will be a major loss for Pep Guardiola as he looks to bring silverware to the club in what could be his final year in charge.
Finding a short-term fix for this selection headache is understood to have led the Sky Blues to Barella, who has been linked with a move to England on more than one occasion. Newcastle United came very close to recruiting the Italian this summer, only to see a deal fall through. Meanwhile, Liverpool have also been named as a possible destination in the past.
The Daily Star have claimed it is now City eyeing Barella and that the reigning champions will have to pay at least £75million for the Italy international, whom Jurgen Klopp is a big admirer of. Ahead of facing Inter at the Champions League Round of 16 stage during the 2021/22 season, the former Liverpool boss said of the 27-year-old: “That Barella is not able to play is not bad for us. He’s a really good player, a really good player and I like him a lot.
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“He has all the things you want from a midfield player: he is aggressive, he is technical, he can run for ages, and all these kinds of things. That’s a top-class player.”
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Should City pursue a deal for Barella, this could be good news for Liverpool as regards Martin Zubimendi. The Real Sociedad star is another name that has been mentioned as someone City could target, which would come as a blow to the Reds having identified the Spanish star as a midfield target.
It remains to be seen whether or not the Reds choose to revisit a deal for Zubimendi, either in January or next summer, after being snubbed in their first attempt.
