Manchester City’s chase for Juventus left-back Alex Sandro is something that has dragged on for a while now. First it was popular in the Italian newspapers and then inevitably made its way to the English press.
Pep Guardiola’s interest in the 25-year-old is a popular theme encouraged further by Manchester City’s clear need to improve their fullback options.
There’s no huge rush at the moment, as the summer market is still far enough away to keep panic in check. But Juventus want to make sure that Alex Sandro feels well valued where he is, and one of their ideas would be to raise his yearly wages €2.8m from to €3.3m or €3.5m.
Given how concerning Manchester City interest is, Juventus don’t want to include a buyout clause in the player’s new contract. The idea is to ‘build a wall’ around Alex Sandro and let other sides worry about how to get to him.
Whilst a release clause set now may seem high, further transfer market inflation could mean a figure of around €50m wouldn’t be too prohibitive for Guardiola and Manchester City.
Manchester City currently have Gael Clichy and Aleksandar Kolarov as options at left back. Clichy’s contract ends in June, with Manchester City making no big efforts for a renewal. Kolarov has an extra year on his deal but it’s almost certain Guardiola will add a left back in the summer transfer window.
