Manchester City are off until the League Cup Round of 16 clash against Liverpool on December 22. With that extended time off, it’s time to talk transfer rumors. And City are in in the mix for the next hot prospect projected to break into the century club. By that we mean a footballer who can command north of 100 million in a major world currency.
And that is what Shakhtar Donetsk will want for Mykhailo Mudryk, as they want €100 million for the winger, according to The Athletic. The 21-year-old Ukrainian has no shortage of potential suitors.
City will be rivaled by their fellow owned by an ultra-wealthy petrol state clubs Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United for his signature, as well as Arsenal. Additionally, Everton, Brentford and Bayer Leverkusen have all made approaches, but they were knocked back.
Elsewhere, in case you missed it, Manchester City transfer target Jude Bellingham will be made available this summer, should he want to leave Borussia Dortmund. That comes straight from the boss himself, BVB CEO Hans Watzke.
And just today, Bellingham was ranked the player at the 2022 World Cup with the most valuable transfer market value, according to the CIES Football Observatory. He’s worth €202m according to CIES and their bespoke algorithm.
In terms of the most valuable squad at the 2022 World Cup, England leads the way, with a cumulative total worth of €1.499 billion. Bellingham, all by himself, makes up 13.5% of that sum. However, his national teammates Phil Foden of Manchester City (€200m), Bukayo Saka of Arsenal (€120m) and Mason Mount of Chelsea (€100m) are all right up there, right behind him.
Finally, the talk of the football world this week is superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, and the controversial interview he did with Piers Morgan on Talk TV. United brought Ronaldo back in the summer of 2021 from Juventus for around €17m, but he was heavily linked to City, just prior to that.
Ronaldo claimed in that interview that he was very close to joining Man City, but now The Sun claims City were ‘shocked’ to hear this narrative and they now insist that they were ‘never serious about’ signing Ronaldo.
The report states:
“Pep Guardiola’s men briefly explored a move for the Portuguese legend after their move for Harry Kane fell through.
“However, the champions felt Ronaldo’s account of events – in his explosive interview with Piers Morgan this week – was not reflective of what really happened.”
The Sun’s report goes on to say that City are ‘not denying they showed an interest’ but suggesting that he was actually “close” to joining them have ‘raised a few eyebrows.”
Ronaldo scored 24 goals in 38 appearances across all competitions in his first season back at Old Trafford. However, he’s only scored three goals in 16 appearances this year, with two of those scoring strikes coming in the Europa League, a tournament that he tried desperately to avoid playing in. (More on this, from the United side, over at this link)
Paul M. Banks is the Owner/Manager of The Sports Bank and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly contributed to WGN News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.