Sporting Club de Portugal director of football Hugo Viana has already turned down an approach from Aston Villa, as he’s now linked with a move to Manchester City.
That’s according to Jornal de Noticias, who sing the praises of the 41-year-old today as he finds himself in the spotlight.
Reports this week have linked Viana with a move to Manchester City, who will be on the hunt for a new director of football next year as Txiki Begiristain is set to step down.
Viana has been making a name for himself since arriving as director of football at Sporting in September 2018, establishing the Portuguese side as one of the best operators in European football, particularly when it comes to transfers.
That’s made him a ‘strong candidate’ for Manchester City, with Jornal de Noticias confirming reports from elsewhere on that front.
According to their information, Sporting’s sporting director is ‘well regarded’ in England and has even rejected approaches from Newcastle and Aston Villa in the past.
They provide no further details on the approaches from both of those clubs, just that Viana was not interested in a move to Newcastle or Aston Villa. It remains to be seen if he’d reject any similar approach from Manchester City.
What the newspaper do speculate on is that if he does move to the Etihad, he could look to take manager Ruben Amorim with him, if Pep Guardiola also departs next summer.
The pair have a close relationship and there is a ‘strong opportunity’ that the pair will both move at the same time, although for now it’s just speculation and Guardiola as not yet decided his future.
Either way, it seems Sporting’s director is highly thought of, at least as far as they’re concerned in Portugal, where they’re keen to point out he’s already turned down English approaches.
That may just be his agents leaking information or creating the idea to promote their client, who is now being focused on in the media after Begiristain’s announcement.
