Manchester City and Aston Villa face £25 million transfer battle of French left-back

Unai Emery and Pep Guardiola could be set to go head-to-head in the transfer market this summer, with both Aston Villa and Manchester City on a similar transfer mission.

The ongoing season has been one of significant success in the left-back position for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, with Nathan Ake and Josko Gvardiol rotating to great effect across competitions.

In recent matches, it has been Gvardiol who has excelled both in defensive and offensive duties, scoring vital goals against the likes of Real Madrid and Fulham at the Santiago Bernabeu and Craven Cottage respectively.

However, such is Manchester City’s desire to maintain their place at the summit of European football, that they are now on the search for a new left-back talent to offer the squad a more traditional approach to the role.

That search has taken them to France, and a leading prospect that is also attracting attention from the Premier League game along with other high-ranking candidates across European leagues.

According to the information of journalist Alan Nixon, Brest left-back Bradley Locko is up for sale at a transfer valuation of £25 million this summer, and is now on the radar at both Manchester City and Aston Villa.

It is claimed that ‘top scouts’ from both Premier League clubs watched the 22-year-old in action last Friday and are ‘keen’ on a player deemed to be one of the best attacking defenders in Europe, with Brest keen to cash in on that view.

Across competitions so far this season, Locko has registered 35 appearances with 33 of those coming in Ligue 1, whilst providing three assists in the process – all of which have come in the French top-flight.

Aside from Josko Gvardiol and Nathan Ake, Manchester City do not have any natural left-backs within their first-team squad, with Sergio Gomez also predominantly being a more attacking-minded winger or central midfielder.

Manchester City’s last natural left-back option was Benjamin Mendy, signed from AS Monaco in the summer transfer window of 2017 and now plying his trade back in France with FC Lorient of Ligue 1.