Monday’s cover of Spanish newspaper AS had Julian Weigl on the cover and built a story of a ‘war’ to sign the Borussia Dortmund player. Manchester City were named as one of the sides interested, along with Real Madrid and Barcelona.
It was claimed Weigl had been offered to Madrid but they weren’t in a hurry to do a deal, although they could be spurred on if Manchester City or Barcelona decided to have a go.
If Manchester City’s interest is genuine then it looks like Pep Guardiola will have a clearer run, because Mundo Deportivo say Barcelona aren’t interested. A source within the Catalan club is quoted as saying: “They (agents) have been offering him to everyone. It’s a jungle. They want to inflate the transfer.”
Whether Manchester City are genuinely interested, or have been dragged in to help inflate the price, remains to be seen. Regardless of current interest, if Weigl is being offered around Europe then perhaps the tactic needs rethinking.
There’s every chance those offering Weigl around, if it’s actually happening, aren’t his direct agents, but rather opportunists trying to build a deal to present to Borussia Dortmund. A lot of that seemed to happen with Ilkay Gundogan before he moved to Manchester City.
Julian Weigl signed a new contract with Borussia Dortmund in December, it runs until June 2021.
