Man City now consider hijacking £42m Real Madrid target in summer transfer

Manchester City are now considering a blockbuster move to sign a former Champions League winner this summer as they look to rejuvenate their squad following a dismal first half of the Premier League season.

Manchester City splashing the cash

The reigning Premier League champions spent over €200m in the January transfer window, more than the rest of the Premier League combined as they looked to arrest their worst ever run of form under Pep Guardiola.

In fact, only Chelsea have ever spent more in a single winter window (they shelled out almost £300m in 2023) as Omar Marmoush, Vitor Reis, Abdukodir Khusanov, Omar Marmoush and lastly, Nico Gonzalez all arrived at the Etihad Stadium.

There is little sign that their spending will slow down in the summer either, with the club looking a shadow of their former all-conquering selves and likely to try and remedy that amid contract uncertainty surrounding Kevin de Bruyne, while other areas of their squad are also ageing.

Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake are among those who will be 30-years-old or older come the start of the 2025/26 campaign.

They have already bid farewell to Kyle Walker, who moved to Milan on loan with an option to buy at the end of the campaign after struggling in the first half of the season, and with his downturn went any electric pace from the Manchester City backline, leaving them looking vulnerable on the counter attack, something that their most recent 5-1 thrashing by Arsenal demonstrated all too clearly.

Now, they are looking to bolster their backline further in the summer, and have identified another potential addition.

Manchester City monitoring UCL winner

That is according to a report from TEAMtalk, who reveal that Manchester City are now monitoring AC Milan defender Theo Hernandez as he continues his contract standoff at San Siro.

Hernandez has been a key figure for Milan once again this season, but as things stand his £83,000 a week deal expires in 2026, leaving this summer as the final opportunity to cash in on the former Real Madrid defender, who helped them lift the Champions League trophy in 2018.

Indeed, it is claimed that “it is increasingly likely that he will not sign a new contract”, meaning that a summer move seems inevitable amid interest from Madrid in a €50m (£42m) move.

Los Blancos are reportedly keen to bring him back to Madrid as they look to find a long-term solution to their fullback issues, having missed out on Alphonso Davies after the Bayern defender penned a new deal at the Allianz Arena.

However, City could complicate things. According to the report, Guardiola’s side “are poised to rival” Real Madrid for the defender, and are “keeping close tabs on the Milan star’s situation”. They have already reportedly agreed a deal to sign Juventus defender Andrea Cambiaso, but could also look to strengthen on the other side with Hernandez.

He would certainly add speed to their backline, with the Frenchman being hailed as an “electric fast” fullback who is “probably the best attacking LB in the world” by Football Analyst Ben Mattinson on X.

And with his contract running down, he could present a massive market opportunity for interested parties, something that Manchester City won’t want to miss out on.