Man City target Morgan Gibbs-White and Florian Wirtz as shock transfer replacement for Kevin De Bruyne
MORGAN GIBBS-WHITE is a transfer target for Manchester City.
And City want to complete a double swoop by also landing Florian Wirtz.
Kevin De Bruyne will leave the Etihad at the end of the season after ten years with the club.
And the hunt to replace his crucial goals and assists is already underway.
It is still to be decided whether City will target a like-for-like player or look to strengthen elsewhere and mould another player into the De Bruyne role.
No deals will be finalised until incoming director of football Hugo Viana is fully underway after starting work this week.
But as first reported by The Athletic, City identified Gibbs-White as one of their key priorities when the transfer window reopens in the summer.
The midfielder, 25, has enjoyed a superb season for Forest.
The £42million 2022 signing from Wolves boasts an impressive five goals and nine assists for Nuno Espirito Santo’s Champions League chasers.
Those strong performances earned Gibbs-White his senior England debut in September.
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Playmaker Wirtz, 21, has also been in red-hot form for Bayer Leverkusen with 15 goals and 12 assists across the Bundesliga and Champions League.
The German was crowned player of the year as he spearheaded Leverkusen to their maiden league title – plus the DFB-Pokal cup success.
Arsenal and Real Madrid are among the big European clubs already linked with Wirtz.
But City may test Leverkusen’s resolve with a summer approach.
Pep Guardiola could, however, opt to move Phil Foden from his current wide role into more of a central position when De Bruyne leaves.
The academy graduate – a six-time Premier League winner – has 97 goals and 60 assists for City.
Of those, ten goals and just six assists come this term in what has been a difficult campaign for the player and the team.
Manchester City spent huge money in January to sign Omar Marmoush (£64m), Abdukodir Khusanov (£34m), Vitor Reis (£29m) and Nico Gonzalez (£50m) to try and rescue their season.
And now they are already being linked with plenty of new signings to bolster their fortunes next term.