Italian journalist believes Man City have been looking at player ‘for a while’ – Guardiola’s ‘irresistible charm’ might not be enough

It’s been a while since Manchester City have been linked with Fabián Ruiz, but thanks to a Sky Sport journalist, the story appears to be back on.

Nothing too advanced, but Francesco Modugno spoke about Napoli’s upcoming game against Barcelona to Ne Parliamo il Lunedì on Canale 8, during which he mentioned the Spaniard.

He said, relayed by Spazio Napoli: “Fabián? Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester City have been looking at him for a while. Pep Guardiola has an irresistible charm, but City’s exclusion from the Champions League will influence the transfer window a lot”.

That remains to be seen of course, since we all know there are other ways the Premier League club can convince players to move to the Etihad outside of European football, but it’s true it might hinder the club in some way.

There’s also the fact Manchester City are prepared to take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and see if they can get the UEFA punishment overturned.

However, that could take a while, as Chelsea found out the hard way over the summer, so it’ll be up to those in charge at the Etihad to convince players they are confident of getting the sentence dismissed and that European football will be right around the corner, even if they have to go one season without it.