FIVE Manchester City stars could leave this summer in ‘major exit operation’ from the club

A staggering claim from Spain has suggested that up to five Manchester City stars could leave the club this summer, in what is described as a ‘major exit operation’.

The conclusion of the ongoing campaign has long been expected to bring about a major refresh of Pep Guardiola’s first-team squad, as the Catalan coach looks to build his squad for the next two years of his contract – after extending with the club last year.

In recent days, contract talks have been the stand-out process mooted in various quarters, as Manchester City look to extend the deals attached to both Ilkay Gundogan and Julian Alvarez, while they will also seek to gauge an understanding as to where Bernardo Silva’s head lies in regards to his own future.

However, a fresh report emerging from Spain on Wednesday afternoon would suggest that not only is Gundogan not interested in signing a new deal, but also that Manchester City should be bracing themselves for a streak of exits from the first-team squad in the coming months.

That is according to a new claim from journalist Jose Alvarez, who reports that Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva, Kyle Walker, Ilkay Gundogan and Aymeric Laporte could all leave Manchester City this summer.

While many are expecting a big upcoming summer transfer window in the way of arrivals, Jose Alvarez states that the same could be said for exits, as he explained, “A major exit operation because there is a lot of wear and tear among the heavyweights in the dressing room.”

Alvarez continued, as translated and relayed by Sport Witness, “There are several players who are disgruntled and can’t stand the situation,” before listing the aforementioned five City players who could seek exits this summer.

Jose Alvarez provides a breakdown of the situation concerning each of the five players, as he states that Joao Cancelo’s relationship with Pep Guardiola and his backroom team “is not the best”, and as a result he wants to leave the Etihad Stadium.

Ilkay Gundogan is said to have been subject to interest from Manchester City over extending his contract “for the last two years”. Despite reports in England stating that further talks have begun, Alvarez states that the player is not interested in is “quite advanced” on a deal to join Barcelona on a free transfer this summer.

A contractual stand-off also applies to Bernardo Silva, who “keeps rejecting” offers from Manchester City as he wants to leave in the upcoming summer, with PSG “there” and ready for make a move for him.

The Premier League champions also “want to talk about extending” the contract of Aymeric Laporte in the coming weeks and months ahead, with his deal running until the summer of 2025. However, Jose Alvarez – who is known to be a close friend of the Spain international, is “thinking more about a departure in June”.

After joining City from Athletic Bilbao in the January window of 2018, Alvarez reports that Laporte is likely to return to Spain, and despite interest from Paris Saint-Germain, there is a ‘big Spanish team’ who are ready to ‘close talks’ this summer.

Many Manchester City fans would find it extremely hard to imagine that all five of the mentioned names would leave the club in the same summer, however Pep Guardiola is known to be willing to cut names out of his squad should he deem them surplus to requirements.

Following his first season at the Etihad Stadium, City underwent a similarly hectic overhaul of their first-team playing squad, with the likes of Fernando, Nolito, Aleksandar Kolarov and Samir Nasri all included in an extensive list of departures.

While in the way of arrivals that summer, Aymeric Laporte, Kyle Walker, Ederson, and Bernardo Silva made up a significant part of the list of new signings that would mark the start of a sensational period for Pep Guardiola at the football club.

For now, Manchester City fans can only sit tight and wait to see the outcome of both the ongoing club season, and any talks between Etihad officials and members of the first-team playing squad, before making a judgement on the reports from Spain today.