Man City eyeing this Roma midfielder: But do they really need him?

0
1025

Manchester City continue to perform superbly so far as they maintain their position at top of the Premier League table.

Their most recent victory was the conquering of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge thanks to a belter from Kevin De Bruyne.

The key to City’s stunning form has been that they have reasonable and quality back-up’s in almost every position and so far have not had to suffer from fatigue or lack of form or injuries adversely.

Despite that, it appears that Manchester City will once again go into the market in January to solidify their squad even further.

Their latest source of interest lies in the capital of Italy, Rome.

City are watching AS Roma’s midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini according to Sky Italy.

City officials are understood to have watched the forward play against Verona on September 16, after he returned to Roma in the summer following two seasons at Sassuolo.

Pellegrini began his career at Roma before being sold in 2015 for around £1m to Sassuolo, for whom he scored nine Serie A goals in nearly 50 appearances. The deal included a buy-back clause which Roma decided to exercise and got their man back for a meagre £9m.

The 21-year-old recently earned his first Italy cap in the match against European ‘punching bags’ – San Marino. He has been capped 11 times for the U-21 side, however, scoring 4 goals in the process as well.

However, City might have to compete with a familiar rival to secure his services as Manchester United also are reportedly keeping tabs on the midfielder.

United have already put the feelers out on Pellegrini’s team-mate Radja Nainggolan and they watched him last month in the 3-0 victory over Verona.

Pellegrini meanwhile has been getting regular game time for Serie A outfit.

And Football Italia report United are keeping an eye on the 21-year-old and have been following his progress for some time.

Both sides would have to pay £22m should they wish to land Pellegrini as that was the release clause written into his contract when he rejoined the Giallorossi from Sassuolo over the summer.

City have invested heavily in their youth set-up, signing top youngsters and developing their academy into a world-class facility with an aim to run it along the lines of Barcelona’s La Masia but so far they have not been able to integrate the Academy starts into the first team.

No player who has played a first-team game for City this season has come from their youth academy, and 14 youngsters are out on loan either in the Championship or abroad.