Bellingham or Rafael Leão: Which big stars does Manchester City want to snap up in January?

Jude Bellingham, Rafael Leao or Youri Tielemans – these are three players from the list of six potential reinforcements that Manchester City currently have in their sights. What other footballers are involved and can the Citizens bring in any of the six?

In recent years, Manchester City have rarely made any significant transfers in the January transfer window. At the moment, however, it seems that even with the imperfect start to the season, some major transfer could happen after all. So which players is Pep Guardiola interested in?

Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)

The Borussia Dortmund central midfielder, who is only 19 years old, was until recently of great interest to Liverpool, who are very likely to drop that interest. This is because the Reds have recently announced the arrival of Cody Gakpe and so Bellingham may no longer be a transfer priority.

However, it has to be said that, mainly due to his maturity and the quality that Bellingham showed at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he is now the most wanted footballer on the planet.

Borussia, however, only want to sell him in the summer and Bellingham himself is reportedly preferring Liverpool. According to reports from Goal, however, City will try to bring the future superstar in as early as January. In the current campaign, Bellingham has so far registered 15 league starts in which he has scored three goals and two assists.

Rafael Leão (AC Milan)

The jewel and AC Milan’s biggest star is Portugal’s Leão. The 23-year-old Almada native is also next on coach Guardiola’s list of potential reinforcements. Although Leão didn’t get that much space at the World Cup in Qatar, he played 13, 21, 25, 3 and 21 minutes consecutively.

Still, he scored two goals and showed that the combination of his physical and technical maturity is lethal. It was Leao who was one of the main factors why the Rossoneri finally reached the top and won the Scudetto last season.

And his price tag? Already now, according to Transfermarkt , his market value is €85 million. AC Milan can thus make a real bundle of money if they sell him, Leão transferred to Italy from Lille for just under €30 million.

The Italian giant’s management has previously announced that potential suitors must prepare at least 100 million euros. However, it is possible that the transfer sum will be even higher. Mostly, however, the Portuguese star is being linked with Chelsea.

Josko Guardiola (RB Leipzig)

The man with the mask on his face was clearly one of the best defenders at the recent tournament in Qatar. So it’s no surprise that he’s also on coach Guardiola’s list.

Although he was only 20 years old, he was a key reason why his country reached their second semi-final in a row on the most important stage with his clean sheet performances. And it was Guardiola who drove Croatia’s defence.

Just 20 years old, the Zagreb native already has a market value of €75 million and will be in a battle for the job come January. Furthermore, Leipzig are tough negotiators and if the Citizens really want to engage Guardiola, they won’t have it easy.

Youri Tielemans (Leicester City)

According to recent speculation, Tielemans’ involvement with Leicester seems to be coming to an end. The Belgian midfielder is out of contract at the end of the season and despite the Foxes best efforts, a new deal seems increasingly unlikely as the summer break approaches.

Apart from Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool are also among the main suitors, but it is the Citizens who could be the favourites to acquire the midfielder. Ilkay Gündogan might leave the English big club at the end of the season and Tielemans seems to be the ideal replacement for Guardiola.

It should be noted, the 25-year-old Belgian has been ready for a bigger transfer for a long time and his price is not that high – 40 million euros.

Raphaël Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund)

Coach Guardiola never seems to have enough defenders. Especially the complex ones who can step in as a midfielder or winger. Dortmund’s Guerreiro thus fits perfectly into his concept and this is exactly the reason why the twenty-nine-year-old Portuguese is also on his reinforcement list.

He pushed Joao Cancelo out of Portugal’s starting eleven during the World Cup and has been putting in very solid performances in the Bundesliga for a long time now. A move to Manchester City would therefore make sense from many angles.

Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)

Ethan Nwaneri made headlines this season when he became the youngest player in Premier League history after coming on as a substitute in Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Brentford.

However, his name will not be as high on Guardiola’s list of reinforcements as the aforementioned stars.

Sources: Premier League, Goal, Transfermarkt