Mehdi Benatia

[MillionDollarDream]

Add 1 more to the Barça rumors: Il Messaggero (Italy) reports Barcelona is offering Roma €30m for Mehdi Benatia, 4m/year and a 4 year contract for the centre back.

 

[BlueDejong]

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2892/transfer-zone/2014/05/19/4827422/manchester-city-consider-benatia-move-as-mangala-deal-stalls?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Manchester City consider Benatia move as Mangala deal stalls

Issues involving third party ownership have complicated the signing of the Porto centre-back, which could force the Premier League champions to target the Roma defender

By Paul Clennam

Manchester City are set to turn their attentions to a move for Roma defender Mehdi Benatia as a deal to sign Porto's Eliaquim Mangala grows increasingly complicated.

The Premier League champions have pursued Mangala for several months and attempted to sign the centre-back in January, only for the deal to fall through.

And the Etihad Stadium side have grown frustrated as the deal continues to stall and could now push ahead with a move for the £22 million-rated Roma centre-back.

The Serie A side are understood to be interested in Aleksandar Kolarov, who could be used as a £10m makeweight in any transfer.

A player-plus-cash deal would work in City's favour after they were hit with a £49m fine by Uefa for a breach of Financial Fair Play rules, though they will receive £32.5m of the total fine back if they limit their summer spending to within £50m.

City's attempted double move for Mangala and Fernando hit a snag over third party ownership, with Porto owning only 56.67 per cent of the defender's rights, and 90 per cent of the Brazilian midfielder's.

And Mangala has now publicly courted a move to Chelsea, stating a preference for a switch to London over Manchester.

But the Stamford Bridge side have made Gary Cahill a mainstay in their starting XI, handed John Terry a one-year contract extension at the end of the season and signed Kurt Zouma from St Etienne in January before loaning the 19-year-old back to the Ligue 1 outfit.

City suspect Mangala is stalling in the hope of attracting further interest from other top clubs in Europe, including Paris Saint-Germain.

Meanwhile, Barcelona are also rumoured to be interested in Benatia.

 

[Raggi01]

Gazzetta and mundo deportivo are saying barca are in for him. €30-35 million.

So Mangala wants Chelsea and Barca want Benatia. Full on flapping summer ahead.

Honestly I think we'll struggle to get a top CB in - sorry I'm just being realistic ..... It sounds like Fernando wants to come but City and Porto were looking at brokering a combined deal with Mangala who has put a spanner in the works. Barca know we're restricted with regards transfer cap and can blow us out of the water on the Benataia deal if they want to!!

We have a makeweight in kolarov though which Roma have been wanting for a while.

 

[pavelsrnicek]

So Mangala wants Chelsea and Barca want Benatia. Full on flapping summer ahead.

Honestly I think we'll struggle to get a top CB in - sorry I'm just being realistic ..... It sounds like Fernando wants to come but City and Porto were looking at brokering a combined deal with Mangala who has put a spanner in the works. Barca know we're restricted with regards transfer cap and can blow us out of the water on the Benataia deal if they want to!!

We have a makeweight in kolarov though which Roma have been wanting for a while.

I would be sorry to see Kolarov go as he's been our best left back this season and it would be very hard to get a player who is as good going forward as Kolarov without paying huge fees.

 

[IanBishopsHaircut]

Doubt Kolorov will be going anywhere

 

[MillionDollarDream]

So Mangala wants Chelsea and Barca want Benatia. Full on flapping summer ahead.

Honestly I think we'll struggle to get a top CB in - sorry I'm just being realistic ..... It sounds like Fernando wants to come but City and Porto were looking at brokering a combined deal with Mangala who has put a spanner in the works. Barca know we're restricted with regards transfer cap and can blow us out of the water on the Benataia deal if they want to!!

We have a makeweight in kolarov though which Roma have been wanting for a while.

This is a straight up cash deal just like they let go of Marquinhos. They signed Marquinhos for 3 let him go for 30+. They used that to buy Benatia for 13M and he will go for 30+ as well and go on to find another replacement.

 

[Blue Haze]

Yeah this was inevitable. Benatia won't be easy to get, he's been noticed by the major European clubs.

 

[bluechampion7891]

What if we exchange both Kolarov and Nastasic (with buy back of say 25 million) for Benatia, and get in Moreno or Rodriguez for around 15 million?

 

[sam-caddick]

Got a feeling we will keep what we have at this rate.

The only way I see us getting Benatia if we are interested would be to put 40m on the table.

 

[LoveCity]

Got a feeling we will keep what we have at this rate.

The only way I see us getting Benatia if we are interested would be to put 40m on the table.

Even if we couldn't get Benatia or Mangala, there are others out there we could look at. Garay from Benfica (arguably better than Mangala), Laporte from Bilbao, Hummels or Subotic from Dortmund, Musacchio from Villarreal... or even another move for Pepe. There are always options that would strengthen our defence and I think the club will have an extensive list from the scouts. IMO there is a <10% chance we won't add a centre-back this summer, especially with Lescott gone.