Manchester City hold transfer interest in Barcelona centre-back

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are holding a transfer interest in one of the Catalan’s former club’s prized rising talents, according to reports from Spain.

The teenager broke through into the Spanish and European game’s limelight over the course of the weekend, standing out in Barcelona’s 4-2 win against Real Betis, just days before celebrating his 17th birthday.

Cubarsí teamed up with Ronald Araujo at the heart of Barcelona’s defence in La Liga action in Seville, with Jules Kounde operating in the right-back role, and it now comes as no surprise to see his name immediately linked with high-profile moves in Europe.

The first of those clubs to seemingly find themselves tied with a move for the player is the reigning European champions Manchester City, which is even less of a surprise given the connections at both managerial and boardroom level between the two clubs.

It follows a trend of transfers between the two clubs in recent years, largely in the direction of Barcelona, with the likes of Eric Garcia, Ilkay Gundogan, Ferran Torres, and Joao Cancelo all having swapped the English game for Spain in various agreements.

Now, according to the information of Spanish newspaper AS, as translated and relayed by Sport Witness, it is suggested that Manchester City have set their sights on Barcelona’s rising central defensive talent Pau Cubarsí.

It is claimed that the 17-year-old defender’s development at the La Liga giants has caught Pep Guardiola’s attention, after the Manchester City manager and Barcelona legend has been ‘following with interest’.

The bold claims regarding Pep Guardiola’s admiration does not stop there, with AS stating that the City boss ‘falls in love’ with Cubarsí and is well aware of his evolution, despite a potential operation potentially meaning ‘major internal conflict for obvious sentimental reasons’.

But just how much do Barcelona themselves know about Pep Guardiola and Manchester City’s interest in their latest breakthrough talent?

AS report that admiration from the manager of the reigning Premier League champions for the Spain under-17 international is known at Barcelona, who have managed to secured his future by renewing his contract until 2026.

There has been a suggestion in some quarters that Manchester City could recruit in the central defensive roles in the coming months, amid Pep Guardiola leaning towards utilising Nathan Ake and Josko Gvardiol at full-back and John Stones in midfield.

However, the more likely defensive position for City to recruit in comes at right-back, where Kyle Walker is not getting any younger, and Rico Lewis is continuing to excel in a number of roles in midfield.

Yan Couto – currently on loan at Girona from Manchester City – is one name that has been suggested as a potential successor to club captain Walker, while Pedro Porro of Tottenham is another that has been tipped for an Etihad Stadium return in future.