From France: Manchester City battle Premier League rival in monitoring Ligue 1 centre-back

Manchester City face a battle with Premier League rivals Tottenham next summer, should they wish to firm up their monitoring of Nantes’ Bastien Meupiyou.

It has largely been a quiet ongoing transfer market for Manchester City in the way of arrivals into the Etihad Stadium club, with their only signing being that of Claudio Echeverri from Argentine giants River Plate.

Even in the case of the teenager prospect, who is tipped by some in Argentina to be a potential Lionel Messi successor, the 18-year-old will remain with River Plate until the winter of 2024 before an assessment will be made by Manchester City on his future in European football.

However, the latest talk to emerge this month on the signings front for the Etihad Stadium club concerns the defensive ranks, and specifically where Manchester City are stocked with long-term stars including Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol.

That is according to the information of journalist Fabrice Hawkins, who reports that Premier League duo Tottenham and Manchester City are both ‘monitoring’ FC Nantes’ highly-rated 17-year-old central defender, Bastien Meupiyou.

While there is interest from two of England’s biggest club’s during the ongoing transfer window, it is clarified that the French defender will remain at Nantes this month, although it is a situation to keep an eye on for the summer market.

Hawkins further reports that RC Lens made an offer for Meupiyou during the ongoing transfer window in an approach that was perhaps unsurprisingly rejected by Nantes, who hold an intention to extend the teenager’s contract – which currently runs until June, 2025.

The Paris-born defender is a product of the Nantes’ youth academy having developed with the club’s system after a rise from his local club Paris FC, before joining Montfermeil, and being picked up by his current employers in 2019.

Meupiyou made his senior Ligue 1 debut for FC Nantes back in September 2023, appearing from the substitutes bench and taking on nine minutes of action in a 1-1 draw with Marseille.

It remains unknown at this stage just how Manchester City see the player, however given his inexperience at senior level, it is highly unlikely that he would be thrown straight into Pep Guardiola’s first-team squad, and could even be developed at one of City Group’s clubs.