PEP POLICE PROBE
City boss in spotlight over Catalan rally
MANCHESTER City manager Pep Guardiola has been named in a police report investigating the Catalan Independence movement.
Leading members were jailed after a referendum on October 1 was deemed illegal by the Spanish Government. They are being investigated for alleged ‘rebellion’ and reports suggest Guardiola is cited.
The focus is on organised meetings and protests and Guardiola addressed one rally in June, reading a manifesto stating: ‘We will vote though the Spanish state does not want it.’
Meanwhile, City are almost certain to sign Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez in the summer and are looking to add a defensive midfielder and centre back.
The runaway Premier League leaders are confident Sanchez will move to the Etihad as a free agent at the end of the season when his contract runs out at Arsenal, because the Chile striker has set his heart on joining Guardiola’s side. City would consider paying a modest fee – which
could be as little as £10million – for the Chile star in January if there is a danger of him going elsewhere amid reports of interest from Paris SaintGerman. But City would not pay anything like the £60m that was agreed with Arsenal last summer before the deal fell through on deadline day because the Gunners failed to sign a replacement in time. Privately, City believe Arsenal blundered by not taking the money for Sanchez at the time because they knew he would not stay beyond this season. City are 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League table on a record run of 16 straight league wins having scored a mammoth 56 goals already, but signing Sanchez is bound to put a question mark over Sergio Aguero’s future at City, with Gabriel Jesus already battling the club’s all-time record goalscorer for a starting place. But, despite talk of an uneasy relationship between Aguero and his manager, Guardiola (above) has no appetite to sell a player who is also his son’s favourite player. Yaya Toure’s departure in the summer will mean City need a central midfielder to replace him. They have been linked with a number of midfielders such as William Carvalho (who would cost £30m from Sporting Lisbon), Fabinho (£35m from Monaco) and Julian Weigl (£40m from Borussia Dortmund). City also want a centre-back as Vincent Kompany’s persistent injuries create problems in that area and Eliaquim Mangala is seen as a weak link in the absence of injured John Stones. Virgil van Dijk was their main target last summer and is still at the top of their list. Southampton are prepared to sell but have been trying to drive the price towards the £70m mark amid interest from Arsenal and Liverpool. Van Dijk looked to be on his way out of St Mary’s when he handed in a transfer request during the summer. Liverpool were the front runners then and even made a public apology for the way in which they went about the move after Southampton reported them to the FA for making an illegal approach.