Malo Gusto is said to have provisionally agreed to join Manchester City this summer in a move which would see him once again play under Enzo Maresca, the former Chelsea head coach.
Manchester City are on the cusp of a new era following the departure of Pep Guardiola, who called time on his hugely successful premiership last month following a decade of domestic dominance. Maresca, his former assistant, is poised to replace him at the helm once City and Chelsea reach a compensation settlement for the Italian, who departed Stamford Bridge back in January.
Although Maresca is not yet officially in situ, City are already active in the transfer market with a £116million deal to bring Elliot Anderson to Manchester close to completion.
And Gusto could follow him through the door at The Etihad to form part of Maresca’s new squad after giving Manchester City the green light to make a move for him.
That’s according to Foot Mercato, who claim that City now need to persuade their Premier League rivals to cash in on the Frenchman.
It’s said that Maresca is keen to make Gusto a ‘key part’ of his new project at Manchester City. Chelsea, however, are in a strong bargaining position given the 23-year-old is under contract until 2030.
The Blues are close to concluding a deal to sign Marco Palestra who will add to the competition for places at right-back but it is not thought that they are especially looking to sell Gusto, who arrived at the club in 2024 after spending one final season with Lyon in France.
View 2 ImagesGusto knows Manchester City’s prospective new manager, Enzo Maresca, well from the Italian’s time at Chelsea(Image: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)
It has been suggested that Chelsea valued Gusto at around £75million — an amount significantly higher than the £31m they parted with to sign him from Lyon previously.
Chelsea are already at work in the transfer market having made a move to sign the former Arsenal midfielder, Granit Xhaka, from Sunderland.
The Swiss midfielder is well known by the Blues’ incoming manager, Xabi Alonso, who is keen to reunite with him. But Sunderland have rejected an £8m offer for their captain, who only moved to The Stadium of Light last summer, and informed their Premier League rivals that Xhaka is not available for transfer at any price.
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