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It was a relatively low-key transfer window for Manchester City going by their extravagant standards. But they continue to be linked with several players as the January transfer window is around the corner.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the top stories involving Manchester City from 7 October 2020.
Manchester City CEO defends their transfer activity
Manchester City Chief Executive Officer, Ferran Soriano, has now come out in defence of the club's transfer activity and has explained why they had to spend heavily on a centre-back this transfer window. City spent £120 million on three first-team players with the majority of those funds allocated towards securing the services of Ruben Dias from Benfica.
Ferran Sorriano said,
"If we don't play good football, we have no business. Our whole business is built on that so we can't negate or avoid that and we have to take some risks. We believe that the risks we are taking are very well measured.
"You have to look at the net spend, we sold Leroy Sane to Bayern Munich for €49m and that got lost, that money needed to be reinvested and we bought Ferran Torres, a similar player, for €23m so we sold for 49 and invested for 23.
"Sometimes these things are out of context but remember we need to continue playing good football and if we need a central defender we need a central defender. Otamendi has done so well for us but because of his age and other things the best thing to do is to switch him for a younger player. That has to be done."
Manchester City and PSG were interested in AC Milan's Ismael Bennacer
According to Vito Angele (via ACM reports), Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain were both interested in former Arsenal midfielder Ismael Bennacer. But neither clubs were willing to trigger his €50 million release clause.
The Algerian has been impressive for the Rossoneri after arriving in 2019 following a 2-year loan stint at Empoli. Manchester City were extensively linked with the 22-year-old and it was claimed that Riyad Mahrez was persuading his compatriot to make the switch to Etihad.
Pep Guardiola is reportedly convinced of Bennacer's abilities and might yet return with an offer should the youngster continue to impress for AC Milan. However, Paris Saint-Germain are also monitoring the situation and will rival City in any move for Ismael Bennacer.
Messi could move to Manchester City if Barcelona press on with wage cuts
Barcelona's financial situation may yet allow Lionel Messi to seal a move to Manchester City, according to reports. Barcelona had forced their players to take a 70% wage cut at the height of the coronavirus pandemic
Among the various reasons that triggered Lionel Messi to seek an exit this summer was the way in which Barcelona chiefs approached the previous cuts. They were able to hold on to Messi because of a clause in his contract that will allow him to leave only next summer when his contract expires.
The new report claims that Barcelona are looking to enforce further wage cuts and have asked the different departments to select a representative to discuss terms for them. Marca claims that the Barcelona staff are protected by Article 41 of the Workers' Statute which is a clause that has been used in the past by professional athletes to terminate their contracts.
In that case, Lionel Messi will have the freedom to terminate his contract and seek a move elsewhere. As it stands, the current set of negotiations should be wrapped up by the end of November. As such, Messi could leave the club as early as January when the transfer window reopens.
