Manchester City will look to sanction a sale for Oleksandr Zinchenko before stepping up their bid to sign Marc Cucurella from Brighton, according to a new report.
The Premier League champions will kick off their preparations for the new season against Mexican side Club America on Thursday morning in Houston, Texas.
Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling have already joined Arsenal and Chelsea respectively after City secured the arrivals of Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez this summer.
Advert
Nathan Ake is set to stay put at the Etihad Stadium despite attracting heavy interest from Chelsea in the last month and reportedly being open to joining Sterling in west London.
Aymeric Laporte and Riyad Mahrez - both of whom were understood to be willing to leave last summer - will stay at City next season and the latter recently agreed a fresh three-year deal with the club.
Kalvin Phillips and Stefan Ortega have also come in after Fernandinho ended a trophy-laden nine year stay in Manchester, with Zack Steffen nearing a loan move to Middlesbrough.
Advert
.jpg)
After sorting a majority of their transfer business early on in the window, Brighton left-back Marc Cucurella is now believed to be City's only major target ahead of the new campaign.
The Spaniard is believed to be excited by the prospect of working under Pep Guardiola and competing for major trophies after a breakthrough season at the Amex Stadium.
Cucurella, who joined the Seagulls from Getafe last summer, fuelled speculation over a possible switch to the Etihad Stadium by engaging with a tweet from City Xtra on the Spaniard soon joining Kalvin Phillips through the door in east Manchester.
Advert
However, according to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, the Blues are aiming to offload Oleksandr Zinchenko before going ahead with a bid for Marc Cucurella.
Zinchenko is expected to join Gabriel Jesus at the Emirates Stadium after Arsenal reached an agreement to complete the Ukrainian's signing for a reported fee of £30 million, with £2 million in add-ons.
Sources close to Manchester City have recently revealed the 25-year-old is deciding over whether he would like to move to north London or fight for a starting place at the Etihad Stadium.
Advert
Speaking on the latest episode of the Wondergoal Podcast at the weekend, Fabrizio Romano said: “The first step has to be for Zinchenko to leave the club.
"For Manchester City, it is pretty clear - they sold Gabriel Jesus and now they have Erling Haaland. They sold Sterling and now they have Julian Alvarez.
"Fernandinho decided to leave the club and now they have Kalvin Phillips. It has to be the same with Cucurella. Zinchenko needs to go and then they will be able to try for Marc Cucurella, who is the priority.”
Advert
Cucurella has four years left on his current deal at the Amex and City would need to spend big on the Catalan if they are to persuade Brighton into cashing in on their star man.
Romano added: "The real priority now is at left-back, because if Zinchenko really goes to Arsenal - if this deal will be completed - I'm sure that Manchester City are going to try for a left-back.
"The main target has always been, and still is Marc Cucurella from Brighton. It depends on the fee, because it is around €60-65 million, and I don't see Manchester City paying this money for Cucurella.
"They want to sign him. They love the player. Pep Guardiola and people inside the club are convinced that Cucurella will be absolutely perfect for Manchester City's style."
It was further outlined how Cucurella's professionalism and character will help him adjust to life at the Etihad Stadium in the eyes of the club's officials.
"He (Cucurella) is also a very good guy and a very good professional. This is something that is really important for the Manchester City project," Romano said.
"So this is why they (City) want him, but are not paying €60-65 million. They want to pay smart money, maybe including some add-ons in the negotiations.”
Topics: Manchester City, Manchester City Transfer News & Rumours, Premier League, Brighton And Hove Albion, Marc Cucurella, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Arsenal, Transfers
Vayam Lahoti