Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola remains a huge fan of young Barcelona midfielder Nico Gonzalez and has explored bringing the 20-year-old to the Etihad.
Nico was rewarded with a new three-year contract in the summer that contains a release clause of around £500m but still has him on comparatively small wages as he had not broken through to the first team at the time.
Now, with 28 appearances under Ronald Koeman and Xavi to his name, Nico is expected to sign a new contract in the near future to reward his emergence as a senior player, but Guardiola is looking to capitalise on the situation.
The latest update on Guardiola's interest in the 20-year-old comes from The Sun, who ran an 'exclusive' all about just how much the City boss likes Nico.
In reality, that line dates back to November 2021 and starts as far ago as 2018, when a number of reports in Spain began to touch on Guardiola's desire to sign Nico.
Marca revealed in 2018 that Guardiola had failed to sign Nico and was prepared to try again. At the time, Nico's father Fran was working in the youth setup at City and looking to broker a deal, but Barcelona have never played ball. They signed the youngster to a new contract and put an end to things for a while.
The story has rumbled on in the Spanish press ever since but stepped up towards the end of 2021, when a report from Sport stated that Guardiola brought up his interest in Nico directly to the faces of Barcelona chiefs Mateu Alemany and Ferran Reverter when they all met up to discuss Ferran Torres' eventual move to Camp Nou.
There have since been a number of stories in Spain about Nico's hypothetical move to City, but Barcelona are reluctant to lose him as they see the youngster as a vital part of their future.
What works in City's favour is Barcelona's ongoing financial difficulties and struggles in offering young players higher wages, as is the case currently with centre-back Ronald Araujo.
Until Barcelona get Nico tied down to a new deal, reports of Guardiola's interest in signing him will continue, and given the longevity of the links, it is definitely something to be taken seriously.
Source : 90min