Hugo Viana holds interest in €80 million-rated Sporting forward for Manchester City transfer – Manchester United competition | OneFootball

Manchester City are on the verge of welcoming in a new sporting director to the club, and links between Hugo Viana and Sporting CP are already rife in European media.

The Premier League champions confirmed last Autumn that after 12 seasons at the club, long-standing director of football Txiki Begiristain would be leaving the Etihad Stadium upon the conclusion of the ongoing season.

The 60-year-old will vacate his role with an enormous legacy and an unrivalled track record in the game when it comes to success of signings and silverware claimed as a direct result of his squad construction.

Begiristain is also viewed as being integral in not only recruiting Pep Guardiola as Manchester City’s manager in 2016, but also retaining the services of the Catalan coach far longer than either of his previous major clubs in Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

As such, the task that lies ahead of Hugo Viana is enormous, and particularly at a time when the existing Manchester City squad is in dire need of an urgent refresh and fresh impetus amid a hugely underwhelming season.

And according to the information of Portuguese newspaper A Bola, Sporting’s Francisco Trincão is one player at the Lisbon club who has attracted the most attention in Europe, with both Manchester United and Manchester City ‘holding him in high regard’.

From the side of the Etihad club, incoming director of football Hugo Viana is said to be ‘figuring out how he can shape the new season’, and Trincão is reportedly ‘very much to his liking’.

However, from the side of the Portuguese club, it is stressed that they are ‘keeping an eye on the moves’ and have ‘expressed their intention’ to renew the winger’s contract, which currently runs until the summer of 2027 featuring an €80 million release clause.

But it is not just the two Manchester clubs and Sporting themselves who will be paying close attention to the situation, with Barcelona reportedly entitled to 50 per cent of the value of any future sale concerning the 25-year-old.

Many would point out that the wide positions within Pep Guardiola’s squad are arguably some of the most well-stocked within the first-team roster, particularly with the excelling performances of Savinho and Jeremy Doku in recent weeks.

However, there is believed to be an element of doubt rising within the club over Jack Grealish’s future, amid a difficult campaign for the England international both in terms of performances and struggles with injury.

Oscar Bobb is due to return to Manchester City action in the coming days and weeks following an extended period on the sidelines recovering from injury, while Omar Marmoush has brought positional versatility through his arrival from Eintracht Frankfurt in January.