Rodri's perfect partner: Man City intend to sign "world-class" £100m star

2025 is set to be a year in which Manchester City spend big.

On Monday, the Sky Blues confirmed the arrival of Abdukodir Khusanov, joining from Lens for a reported £34m, while Vitor Reis of Palmeiras was then unveiled on Tuesday, arriving for £30m.

This though is just the start, with Omar Marmoush of Eintracht Frankfurt set to follow, but the Citizens’ biggest coup of the year could still be yet to come, plotting a move for a midfielder from a Premier League rival.

Manchester City aim to bolster their midfield

According to a report by Dean Jones for GIVEMESPORT, Manchester City are set to “target” a move for Newcastle United midfielder Bruno Guimarães.

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As reported by James Ducker of the Telegraph, Man City are looking to re-sign Douglas Luiz from Juventus this month, but that aforementioned piece by Rust and Jones outlines that the Sky Blues are only interested in a loan deal, because they ‘intend to sign Guimarães in the summer’.

Chris Waugh of the Athletic notes that Guimarães’ £100m release clause expired on 30 June last year, but Newcastle are likely to demand a similarly high fee, especially if Eddie Howe’s team are able to qualify for the Champions League.

Since arriving from Olympique Lyonnais for £40m three years ago, Guimarães has made 134 appearances for Newcastle, scoring 19 goals and providing 24 assists, a key figure as the Magpies have established themselves as a top side.

Former Arsenal winger Adrian Clarke believes the Brazilian to be one of the Premier League’s “best all-round midfielders”, while former Liverpool and Newcastle left-back José Enrique simply describes him as “world-class”.

What Bruno Guimarães would bring to Mancheser City

Guimarães will certainly be a man in demand this summer, with Newcastle desperate to keep hold of him, but what an addition he would be for Manchester City.

Ever since Rodri ruptured his ACL against Arsenal in September, midfield has been a problem position for Guardiola’s team, with İlkay Gündoğan and Mateo Kovačić doing their best to fill the void, but they’re not at the same level as the reigning Ballon d’Or winner.

Nevertheless, Rodri is hoping to return in time for the FIFA Club World Cup in June and July, at which Man City will face Al Ain, Wydad Casablanca and Juventus in the group phase, so what a partnership the Spaniard and the Brazilian could form from next season, so let’s assess how the duo compare.

Since August 2022, the pair have played a remarkably similar number of minutes; should Guimarães play the full game against Southampton on Saturday, he will have played exactly 23 minutes fewer than Rodri across a two-and-a-half-year timeframe.

Thus, comparing the two is very interesting, because the numbers suggest they would make an excellent pairing.

Rodri is the pass master, completing more passes than anyone else across Europe’s top five leagues last season (3,635), while Guimarães is far more combative, hence why he’s racked up more tackles, interceptions, blocks and cards, although pair can do both, meaning neither have any glaring weaknesses.

Thus, with Rodri dictating play and Guimarães getting stuck in, they’d form an unstoppable pairing.

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