Manchester City: 4 Targets That Bother Real Madrid

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Spanish newspaper MARCA claims Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is going after a number of Real Madrid transfer targets and players. We take a look at the who and why.

Sometimes things just fall perfectly into place to fit the preconceived notions that you held and were merely awaiting the ultimate proof to feel vindicated about. United have signed egotistical manager Jose Mourinho and egotistical striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic? Well they would, wouldn’t they? It fits their style after all.

That’s why this week, Spanish daily newspaper, MARCA put two and two together and got twenty-two with some of Manchester City’s transfer targets. They make the claim that City manager Pep Guardiola, now four years removed from his tenure with Barcelona, is standing in the way of former Classico rivals Real Madrid acquiring their transfer targets this year, alongside planning a raid on several players they have already.

MARCA never stated that Pep was doing this with any untoward intentions, but given the paper’s reputation for being a voice for Los Blancos, it doesn’t take much to connect the dots. Pep and Real are polar opposites, even to this day Pep represents Barcelona in the minds of the fans in Madrid. Such are their differences that Pep himself was quoted as laughing when it was suggested he might take over at the Bernabeu this season, and actual new Real manager Zinedine Zidane had to shrug off suggestions his promotion to the role wasn’t the club trying to find their own Pep.

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Nonetheless, there are a number of crossed wires between the two clubs this transfer window and perhaps that’s understandable. For Real, there exists an urgency given the club may well be banned from having a transfer window at all for two seasons, for having violated FIFA article 19 on young international signings. For Manchester City, Guardiola inherits an aging team that massively underwhelmed domestically last season, that undoubtedly requires a considerable overhaul. Both teams have an urgency this summer, and there’s only so much talent available.

MARCA themselves listed four players who Pep has either won the race for, or is trying to do so, at the behest of Madrid. Let’s have a look at them and discuss what benefit there would be to City in pursuing said targets and whether there’s any truth to the rumours:

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4 Manchester City Targets That Bother Real Madrid

By Stephen Little | Jul 26, 2016

Spanish newspaper MARCA claims Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is going after a number of Real Madrid transfer targets and players. We take a look at the who and why.