Man City discussing £30m fee for Porto midfielder as Pep Guardiola’s side look to continue adding to their squad in bid to save their season

Manchester City are discussing a fee of around £30million for Porto midfielder Nico Gonzalez.

Talks continued on Saturday over a deal for the 23-year-old Spain Under-21 international who has a £50m release clause.

Porto are themselves one of the clubs asking for midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka on loan from Chelsea, along with Borussia Dortmund and Everton.

Gonzalez, a 23-year-old who came through the Barcelona academy, has scored seven goals and recorded six assists in 29 appearances so far this season.

The Spain Under-21 international is capable of playing a range of positions in midfield, a key area City are looking to bolster in the absence of Rodri.

Gonzalez, represented by super agent Jorge Mendes, has a release clause of around £50million but City are working to strike a deal lower.

City manager Pep Guardiola is eager to add to his midfield options before the transfer deadline

Porto are one of the clubs asking for midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka on loan from Chelsea, along with Borussia Dortmund and Everton

Atalanta’s Ederson has been of interest yet the Italians are loathed to sell their prized asset mid-season, while Douglas Luiz at Juventus is available.

Opening negotiations with Porto signifies that City are not yet done in the window and want to hit the four new faces to re-energise their campaign, a plan revealed by Mail Sport last month.

Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis have already joined the Premier League champions in recent weeks and a further signing would take City’s spend over £150m.

Manager Pep Guardiola accepts that landing a specific understudy to Rodri of requisite quality is a difficult assignment and City have looked at midfielders able to fill multiple positions.

Guardiola said on Friday that the club’s positive net spend over the past five years has allowed them to release the purse strings now and promised a further overhaul of the squad in the summer.

City midfielder James McAtee, meanwhile, is the subject of further interest from Bundesliga clubs looking to sign him permanently for around £25m. 

Bayer Leverkusen asked to take him on loan last month with an option to buy for £21m. 

Elsewhere, City striker Will Dickson, 20, is joining Motherwell on loan.