Manchester City ‘negotiating’ winger’s arrival – Guardiola’s side may have to really increase their offer

Manchester City are interested in Atletico Madrid winger Rodrigo Riquelme, according to reports from Spain.

Journalist Angel Garcia claims Pep Guardiola’s side are ‘negotiating’ the transfer of the 23-year-old.

The problem is that Manchester City would like to pay €15m for the transfer, while Atlético Madrid use his €30m release clause as the reference for the negotiations.

For now, there’s no information on whether the English side would be willing to offer more, or if the La Liga club would be flexible to give out a discount.

What seems a little weird about this report is that many stories from the Spanish media claim Riquelme’s release clause at Atletico Madrid is actually worth €60m.

Now, that may be just a little confusion from Garcia, as even if the clause is worth €60m, the €30m request sounds a lot more reasonable for the winger.

Playing for Girona on a loan last season, Riquelme had five goals and four assists in 35 appearances.

If Manchester City are really interested in him, it could be that they would buy him and then make the player feature for one of the City Group’s clubs for at least another season.