London: Manchester City hope to sign three full-backs before they fly to the United States for the start of their pre-season tour next month but Pep Guardiola is prepared to play a waiting game over Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez.
Dani Alves could be the first of those through the door, with City aiming to get a deal for the Brazil right-back over the line this week. Alves, 34, is a free agent after terminating his contract with Juventus and is expected to sign at least a two-year deal with City.
City are still haggling with Tottenham Hotspur and Monaco over fees for England right-back Kyle Walker and France left-back Benjamin Mendy but hope to have both players in place before Guardiola and his squad fly to Houston on July 17. City face Manchester United in the International Champions Cup three days later.
Daniel Levy, the Tottenham chairman, has been holding out for up to pounds 50 million for Walker, but with the player keen to move to City and Spurs prepared to do a deal, a compromise is expected. City may end up paying around pounds 45 million including add-ons.
City have already signed Portugal playmaker Bernardo Silva from Monaco for 43.6 million pounds but the French champions have been demanding a similar fee for Mendy, which was significantly more than City wanted to pay.
Mendy could end up costing close to the pounds 34.7 million City paid Benfica for goalkeeper Ederson Moraes. Guardiola is thought to be more relaxed about Sanchez and prepared to see how that situation pans out as the summer progresses.
Jose Mourinho, meanwhile, faces the prospect of having to take his third-choice midfield target — Nemanja Matic — in what is already proving to be a frustrating summer for the Manchester United manager. The Daily Telegraph understands that Eric Dier, of Tottenham Hotspur, and Roma’s Radja Nainggolan were Mourinho’s first- and second-choice picks in midfield, but United have made little progress on either.
United are more confident over Matic, who has so far refused to sign a new Chelsea contract and is set to face increased competition at Stamford Bridge with the anticipated arrival of Tiemoue Bakayoko from Monaco. Chelsea would rather not sell Matic, but will have to listen to an offer in the region of pounds 40 million for a player whose contract expires in two years and turns 29 on August 1.
Although they would prefer not to provide a solution for a rival, Chelsea stand to make a pounds five million profit on the signing of 22-year-old Bakayoko for pounds 35 million and the departure of Matic. United are waiting for Chelsea to complete the signing of Bakayoko from Monaco before making their move for Matic, but are aware the Serb is interested in heading to Old Trafford.
Chelsea have been attempting to negotiate a new contract with Matic for the past 18 months, but have failed to find an agreement with the former Benfica player. Matic can earn over pounds 150,000 a week by joining United and is apparently happy to link up with Mourinho again, despite the pair sharing an up-and-down relationship at Stamford Bridge.
— The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2016
