Man City get transfer boost after agreeing £29.5m January deal
Manchester City will welcome two new defenders to their squad this month after agreeing a £29.5m fee with Palmeiras for 18-year-old centre-back Vitor Reis.
The Brazilian club were intent on a high fee given the promise surrounding the youngster and also wanted to keep him until after the Club World Cup. However, as the Manchester Evening News reported, the Blues were set on recruiting Reis immediately and have got their way after negotiations between everyone involved.
Reis will join Lens defender Abdukodir Khusanov as a new recruit in Pep Guardiola's squad this January after the Blues agreed a £33.5m deal for the 20-year-old prospect last week. Neither player is expected to come in and be a regular starter, instead signed for the long term rebuild of the club that Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano held off on last summer with the manager in opposition to it.
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However, Khusanov and Reis will both immediately become part of the first team squad when they join and they will be available to bolster a backline that remains badly depleted. All four centre-backs have struggled with injuries at various points, and John Stones and Ruben Dias remain sidelined.
City are also expecting to lose captain Kyle Walker this month after the right-back asked to be allowed to explore a move abroad. Saudi clubs have again shown interest but it is thought that Walker could be off to AC Milan.
The Blues remain in talks with Frankfurt over £60m forward Omar Marmoush as they look to make a statement in a January window that they do not normally like doing business in. As much as the incomings will help the team in the short term, they are seen as part of the bigger picture.
"New players, young players, they will come," said Guardiola on Monday. "I don't know now, I don't know in summer, I don't know next season, but in the next two or three, the club has to, of course, do it. It's a question of age."
