believe it or not, clubs have a more in-depth knowledge of potential targets than fans do, going back many many years. It is a multi-million pound business infested with clever greedy and unscrupulous geezers. Occasionally the dark side is revealed when someone blows the whistle, but generally the public have to rely on spurious articles on various media platforms, sometimes naked click-bait, sometimes paid for. It's very much cloak and dagger, given the sums involved, that is not surprising. Tapping-up is just one area and short of a deliberate 'sting' almost impossible to stop.
For fans, we are stuck on the street gazing in the shop window, drooling at the goodies on display, and for City fans especially, value-for-money is not high on the agenda, 'richest club in the world' syndrome if you like. Frustration follows, weakness on the field brings demands for replacement, the club are accused of all sorts, from penny-pinching to incompetence to complacency. We never know the actual details, the t's and c's of any negotiations, even the targets. I'll take the easy way out and trust that the club knows more about everything player-related than i could even dream of. ctid