Have Manchester City pivoted with their summer transfer window plans? | OneFootball

One player who shaped as a summer transfer target for Manchester City was Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White. David Ornstein has previously reported for the Athletic that Gibb-White was a player who had an interest in signing this summer. Looking at Gibbs-White as a player his technical ability and workrate would be a tremendous addition to Pep Guardiola’s squad.

However, given his importance to Nottingham Forest, signing Gibbs-White would likely be an expensive move for the City to make. Now a new report indicates that Manchester City have deemed a move for Gibbs-White to be too expensive. So have City pivoted with their summer transfer plans? It’s a real possibility when the subject is investigated further.

Manchester City deem a move for Morgan Gibbs-White as too expensive at this stage.

Fabrizio Romano has reported for GIVEMESPORT that as of right now, Manchester City deem a summer move for Morgan Gibbs-White to be too expensive. Furthermore, Romano reports that Gibbs-White remains on Manchester City’s shortlist. It isn’t included in Romano’s report what transfer fee Nottingham Forest is demanding to sell Gibbs-White this summer.

Could Ederson be Manchester City’s Gibbs-White alternative?

Fabrizio Romano’s new report does come as a surprise. It did seem that a Manchester City move for Morgan Gibbs-White was a no-brainer this summer. Gibbs-White’s quality as a player would help improve Manchester City’s squad. He is also a homegrown player so that also made him an attractive proposition for Manchester City. The possibility that City will need to sign homegrown players this summer is very real. The homegrown player situation is another intriguing layer of the transfer window to monitor.

But perhaps Manchester City have moved on from Gibbs-White. There were also reports over the weekend that City were in talks with Atalanta to sign Ederson this summer. Jorge Nicola reported that City and Atalanta were in talks over a €70 million deal to bring Ederson to the Etihad. Corriere dello Sport has also reported that City were making their move to sign Ederson. Perhaps Manchester City have identified Ederson as an alternative to Morgan Gibbs-White.

If you view Gibbs-White as potentially being a number eight in Pep Guardiola’s squad rather than a ten, Ederson could be an alternative to the England international. The Brazilian is a versatile midfielder who can play as an eight, and potentially step in as a six on occasions. He’s an all-action midfielder who gets around the pitch well, both going forward and defensively. Ederson isn’t as good going forward as Gibbs-White but he is a midfielder who could play as an eight, and add life to Manchester City’s midfield. Perhaps Atalanta’s midfield workhorse is City’s alternative to Gibbs-White.

Whether or not Manchester City have abandoned their interest in Morgan Gibbs-White remains to be seen. Fabrizio Romano’s report does suggest that City won’t be held to ransom this summer. We have seen City walk away from transfers before due to the high demands of selling clubs. So while it would be a surprise to see City abandon a move for the Nottingham Forest midfielder, it is something they have done before in years gone by. The fact that they’ve been linked with a move for Ederson could indicate that Manchester City may have moved on to their next midfield target.