“They’ve had encouragement from the player” – Insider reveals Manchester City transfer interest in Real Madrid superstar | OneFootball

Manchester City may return for one of Real Madrid’s superstar attackers in the coming months after experiencing encouragement in the summer over their chances of a deal.

The latest information has surrounded the Premier League champions’ hunt for a direct replacement to Julian Alvarez, who left the club in a blockbuster big-money move for Atletico Madrid in the summer.

That deal left Pep Guardiola and Manchester City with just Erling Haaland as their natural leading striker solution for the entirety of the season, and a campaign that will see the club take on more matches than ever.

There were late claims in the transfer window that Etihad Stadium officials would look into the possibility of signing either Celtic’s Kyogo Furuhashi or now-former FC Copenhagen forward Orri Oskarsson.

But it has now emerged that the aforementioned duo may have only come after Manchester City had turn their attentions away from a much more high-profile attacking option currently starring for Real Madrid.

According to the information of journalist and transfer market insider Duncan Castles speaking on ‘The Transfers Podcast’ this week, City made attempts to secure a deal for Real Madrid’s Rodrygo towards the end of the summer market.

“City were aware of what was going on with Vinicius (and a possible move to Saudi Arabia) at the end of the transfer window,” Castles said. “They of course needed a striker and were looking to sign a striker because they’d sold Julian Alvarez to Atletico for a fee that turned up being the highest of the summer transfer window, potentially rising to €95 million.

“And they saw Rodrygo, Real Madrid’s other Brazilian striker, as an ideal replacement for Alvarez, and had started speaking to the player, started sending out the possibility of a move.

“Rodrygo was positive towards City, City believed there was the possibility that they could convince the player to go, and also that they could come to a deal with Madrid because Madrid obviously bringing Kylian Mbappe in and Endrick in the summer.”

Duncan Castles continued, “It could’ve made sense for them to allow Rodrygo to leave for a big transfer fee. In the end, towards that final part of the window, Madrid told Rodrygo to wait.

“They wanted to see what was happening with Vinicius and to hold on and not agree to anything with Manchester City because the possibility was there, a live possibility at the time that Vinicius could be sold and then Rodrygo’s place and significance in the team would be reinstated.

“As it turns out, neither deal happened. But Rodrygo remains the principle option, I think, for Manchester City to strengthen in attack if they see that Madrid will open the door for them, to allow them to take the player.

“And of course they’ve had encouragement from the player that he would be interested in moving to England.”

Manchester City were first linked with a move for Rodrygo towards the end of last season and in the midst of the club’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final meeting with Real Madrid over two-legs in the competition.

The player himself was quizzed on the interest in light of Real Madrid’s dramatic penalty shoot-out win at the Etihad Stadium, to which he responded, “This week some media said about bids, clubs, interest.

“I don’t know anything about it and I’m not interested… Even if there are proposals, I have no idea… I’m staying. I’m happy here. How can I leave Real Madrid?!”

It remains to be seen whether Manchester City would show any interest in recruiting a new name for the attacking roles during the upcoming January market, with more focus likely to be placed on defensive midfield following Rodri’s season-long absence due to injury.