Premier League champions Manchester City have reportedly tried to persuade Martin Zubimendi to join the club midway through the current season.

Pep Guardiola and his coaching staff continue to come to terms with Rodri’s absence from the first team, after the Spaniard suffered a serious double knee injury earlier this campaign.

Although his season was enriched with early success thanks to the Ballon d’Or triumph in Paris, Rodri will play no part in the remainder of Manchester City’s campaign following knee surgery and the necessary recovery period.

As such, with Manchester City finding little success with their current options to replace the European Championship winner, Etihad Stadium bosses may feel compelled to look to the transfer window to provide a competent replacement for Rodri .

Among the solutions are Italian footballer Samuele Ricci of Turin, Nicolo Barella of Inter and Ederson of Atalanta, although the latter name strongly linked to Manchester City’s admiration and interest is a name known to be a close compatriot of Rodri himself.

According to the information on Pete O’Rourke from Football InsiderManchester City could try to persuade Real Sociedad and Spain international midfielder Martin Zubimendi to move to the Etihad Stadium in January.

It is explain that City are expected to prioritize signing a new midfielder in the coming weeks, with the aforementioned 25-year-old among their targets, Pep Guardiola being a big fan of the player, and the opportunity to work under the Catalan’s orders are seen as a potential draw.

However, the report highlights It remains to be seen whether Zubimendi himself would be open to a move to the Premier League, although Manchester City believe the player could be persuaded if they decide he is their first choice in the position.

Speaking in early October, the first reports of Manchester City’s potential interest in Martin Zubimendi came to the player himself, to which he responded: “So far I thought the best thing was to be in my club.”

He continued, speaking while on international duty with Spain, I am looking for personal development and I still have a lot to give to Real (Sociedad).

Earlier reports from Spanish media published around the same time claimed that City wanted to take advantage of the fact that Zubimendi had not signed a contract renewal with Real Sociedad and therefore maintained a €60 million release clause.

For now, Pep Guardiola has not publicly denied the idea of ​​City strengthening his squad in the January market, but has also suggested that the squad could be at full strength in terms of fitness and injuries at this stage of the season, thus reducing the number of injuries. need for recruitment.