According to recent reports, Pep Guardiola is said to be extremely keen on bringing AC Milan midfielder Ismael Bennacer to Manchester City this summer.
The reports by La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sempre Milan) state that Guardiola has ‘fallen in love’ with the 22-year-old, with €50 million (£45.1 million) appearing to be the benchmark for the price of the Algerian, a figure that it is said Guardiola could spend.
PSG are also rumoured to be interested in the defensive midfielder, however, the reports state that Guardiola’s affection for the player means that he wants to bring him to City ‘immediately’.
The 22-year-old has enjoyed a fine season for Milan, despite the club’s relatively poor league position, averaging 2.3 tackles, 1.8 interceptions, 0.9 key passes and 2.5 dribbles per game, as well as an 87.7% pass completion rate.
In addition to this, the 22-year-old has also chipped in with one league goal this season, which, along with his other stats, has culminated in an average WhoScored match rating of 7.06/10 over the course of his 28 Serie A appearances – ranking him as the Rossoneri’s fourth-best performer this season.
TIF Thoughts…
With Guardiola already having Rodri, Fernandinho and Ilkay Gündogan as recognised first-team players that can operate from defensive midfield, it could be argued that spending €50 million (£45.1 million) on another player in the position – especially given Rodri was purchased for £63 million last summer – is not particularly needed.
Would you be happy for City to spend €50 million on Ismael Bennacer this summer?
Yes
No
Having said that, with City falling so short of defending their Premier League crown this season, it is clear that Guardiola wants to make improvements to his side over the coming transfer window, and it would certainly appear that, from his statistics, the £15.75 million-rated Bennacer would not be a bad addition at all.