Manchester City are weighing up a move for FC Porto midfielder Nico González, sources have told ESPN.
City are still in the market for the midfielder despite already spending more than £120 million ($148.8m) on Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis in the January transfer window.
They are also interested in Douglas Luiz, who could be allowed to leave Juventus on loan before Monday’s deadline.
González is also on City’s shortlist, although they have not yet made formal contact with Porto, according to ESPN sources.
The Spaniard’s former club Barcelona would be owed a percentage of the transfer fee if the 23-year-old moves to the Etihad Stadium.
González joined Barça’s academy in 2013 and progressed to the first team before joining Porto in a deal worth €8.5m in 2023.
Barça confirmed at the time they had maintained an option to re-sign González as well as percentage of any future transfer.
Sources told ESPN the option was fixed at €30m until the summer of 2025, while Barça would also be due 40% of any fee Porto receive.
The Portuguese side also have an option to purchase an additional 20% at any point, cutting Barça’s cut on a possible transfer to 20%.
González’s dad, Fran, was also a professional footballer, most notably playing for Deportivo La Coruña, and he also spent time working as a coach at City.
While his dad was at City, when González was 16, the Premier League side made an attempt to sign the midfielder from Barça.
“He had offers from abroad, very big offers, a lot of money, but his dream was to play for Barcelona,” Fran told ESPN in 2022. “It’s been a huge sacrifice, above all for his siblings, who didn’t want to go to Barcelona [from A Coruña in 2013], but he fulfilled his dream [of playing for Barça].”
Pep Guardiola was asked at his news conference on Friday whether City could bring in more new players before the deadline.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Financially we were stable for the last season. Even right now with the investment we have done we have a big net profit for the last five seasons.
“Maybe in the future we will continue to do it because the club have moved financially really well over the last five years in terms of sales but also players who have helped us to win what we want.”
Information from ESPN’s Moises Llorens contributed to this report.
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