Here are the Manchester City morning headlines for Thursday, June 4.
City facing battle to retain Garcia’s services - report
Manchester City want to keep hold of Spanish defender Eric Garcia, but with no contract extension yet announced, Barcelona are reportedly circling.
Pep Guardiola and the City hierarchy see him as part of the team’s future, but Barca came calling recently for their former youth prospect and made an enquiry over bringing him home.
City rejected that approach, report ESPN, and with two years remaining on his deal it’s still in Manchester that the biggest position of power resides over any possible move.
The 19-year-old will doubtless want to see more game time, but he has been increasingly more involved as the 2019/20 season has gone on.
City backtrack on Dias decision - report
City have reportedly changed their summer plans regarding spending as a result of the uncertainty surrounding the economic state of the game.
Reports from Portugal claim the Etihad club had earmarked Ruben Dias, currently of Benfica, as a key signing to improve Guardiola’s squad — but have now reversed that decision.
It is suggested the cost of signing Dias would have amounted to more than €100million, reports Record, via Sport Witness, if they met the defender’s release clause to significantly strengthen their back line with a new partner for Aymeric Laporte.
However, the report claims City have now opted against such a big deal due to the current situation, with Benfica president Luis Filipe Vieira saying two of their players would have been sold for the huge amount had it not been for the “financial crisis” in football.
Lengthy appeal likely for City’s UEFA ban
City are in the middle of appealing their ban on entering European competition, but the appeal process is understood to be a long one — potentially causing chaos for other Premier League teams.
As it stands, the ban means the fifth-place team in the Premier League could feature in the Champions League during 2020/21, rather than Guardiola’s side. But if City win their appeal, they could return to Europe’s elite competition.
The appeal itself will be heard next week across three days — but the Mirror report the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) could take up to two months to deliver a verdict, leaving teams unsure of if they will be playing in Europe next season, or in which competition.
Chief executive Ferran Soriano has already called for an early resolution to allow proper planning for his side.They have previously expressed confidence that CAS will overturn the ban for “serious breaches” of financial fair play rules.
