Despite being heavily criticised at times, Nicolas Otamendi seems to retain the trust of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, as shown by his 30 league appearances last year and his start against Brighton on Saturday afternoon.
The Argentine defender, who arrived at the Etihad in a £40m+ transfer back in 2015, played the full 90 minutes against the newly promoted side, and appears to be set for another long season at the centre of the Spaniard’s plans.
Ignoring all of this narrative, however, are Inter, desperate to sign a new centre-back before the end of the transfer window, and Gazzetta dello Sport report they’ve turned to the Manchester City defender to try and bolster their squad.
But, and it’s a big one, the Italian newspaper make it very clear getting a deal done will be incredibly difficult, mostly due to all the reasons mentioned above.
The only bit of hope that would make this doable is the competition for the job, with Gazzetta listing the likes of Jason Denayer and Eliaquim Mangala as potential problems for Otamendi.
While that seems unlikely, the newspaper also briefly mentions an Inter interest in the Frenchman, a far more realistic target.
Sent out on loan at Valencia last season, the former Porto star might have made the bench on Saturday, but he certainly doesn’t look like he’s going to become a regular starter anytime soon.
If Pep was faced with selling one of the two, we know which one he’d happily wave goodbye to.
