Manchester City set to bolster squad with European star as part of continued Pep Guardiola rebuild: report

Manchester City are gearing up for a significant transfer window this summer following their £180m spending spree in January, with Pep Guardiola actively seeking to revamp his squad.

Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis all arrived in the winter to bolster the squad, but Manchester City aren't stopping there.

With departures seeemingly inevitable from the Etihad Stadium this summer, more funds will be freed up to allow Guardiola's side to enter the transfer market without risking flouting the Premier League's PSRs.

Manchester City looking at key target who already has a 'gentlemen's agreement' in place

The 2024/25 season has been extremely disappointing for Manchester City, with the club suffering early exits in both the Champions League and League Cup, as well as a dismal Premier League title defence. With just 10 games remaining Guardiola's side are fifth and at risk of missing out on Champions League football next term.

There's a clear focus on making next season a success, though, with the club's hierarchy already highlighting their key transfer targets to give the side a boost in 2025/26.

According to Teamtalk, Manchester City are chasing Bayer Leverkusen full-back Jeremie Frimpong, with the Premier League champions viewing the 24-year-old as the ideal replacement for Kyle Walker. While Walker is only on loan at AC Milan, it seems inevitable the Englishman will depart Manchester City ahead of the 2025/26 season.

Frimpong knows Manchester City well, having spent nine years in the youth academy before joining Celtic in 2019 to make the step up into senior football. Two years later he signed for Bayer Leverkusen, and has since gone onto become one of the best full-backs around - FourFourTwo ranked him at no.2 in the list of the best right-backs in the world right now.

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Despite still having three years remaining on his contract with the German side, Teamtalk reported in February that Frimpong has a "gentleman's agreement" allowing him to leave if a club offers just £33.1m in the summer.

Manchester City are competing with Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid for the Dutchman's signature, however, which could not only drive that price up, but also give the player the power to choose where he wants to spend the next years of his career.

Frimpong is valued at £42m by Transfemarkt, but in FourFourTwo's view he is worth considerably more than that considering his age, quality and length of contract left at Leverkusen. If Manchester City are able to secure him for under £50m regardless of any agreements in place, that would represent smart business.

Manchester City are back in Premier League action when they host Brighton at the Etihad Stadium.