Having won a remarkable treble last season, which included their first ever Champions League trophy, Manchester City were immediately weakened earlier this summer as captain Ilkay Gundogan joined Barcelona.
The German international was an instrumental piece of Pep Guardiola’s side, and although they have since signed former Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea, Man City still want to reinforce that area further.
One player that they hope to do that with is Frenkie De Jong. Man City are big admirers of the Dutch international, who is off the back of an excellent season with Barcelona, in which he won his first LaLiga title with the club.
It could be his last too, as according to FootballTransfers, Man City are pursuing a swap deal with Barcelona which would see them sign De Jong, and Bernardo Silva would head to Catalonia as a result.
Barcelona are very interested in signing Bernardo, who is also very keen on the move, and Man City hope to use this to get their hands on De Jong.
However, given that De Jong have previously stated that he has no intention of leaving Barcelona this summer, that could spoil Man City’s plans. It remains to be seen how the situation plays out, but it looks like being a non-starter at this stage.
