Man City summer spending spree not over — Guardiola
LOS ANGELES: Pep Guardiola has confirmed Manchester City are ‘still looking’ to add to their £ 200 million summer spending spree, although he refused to comment on the possibility of hijacking Real Madrid’s move for Kylian Mbappe.
City have been the major shoppers in the transfer market after splashing out a Premier League record total of £ 200m (223 million euros, US$ 260 million) to bring Benjamin Mendy, Bernardo Silva, Kyle Walker, Ederson, Danilo and Douglas Luiz to the Etihad.
But it remains likely that they will continue their haul after being strongly linked with moves for Arsenal frontman Alexis Sanchez and Monaco teenage striker Mbappe.
Mbappe has been on City’s radar throughout the summer, although there have been strong suggestions in Spain that Real have agreed a fee of £160 million (US$ 210 million, 180 million euros) for the 18-year-old.
Ahe a d of We d ne s d ay ’ s International Champions Cup encounter against Real Madrid, in Los Angeles, Guardiola wasn’t being drawn on either.
“They are Monaco and Arsenal players, so nothing to say,” he said.
But he did confirm that City were still looking at options in the market, albeit he was coy on whether another striker was on the agenda.
“We have the two exceptional forwards in Gabriel (Jesus) and Sergio (Aguero),” he said. “We will see. “The market finishes on Aug 31, which is not good for the managers.
“The competition ( Premier League) starts on the 12th ( of August) and the market is still open. That is not good for all the clubs.
“We will see until the end of the transfer window.”
Mendy became City’s latest signing earlier this week when the left-back arrived from Monaco in a £ 52 million ( US$ 67 million, 58 million euros) deal.
The 23-year-old is still around a fortnight from featuring in a City shirt due to injury, but Guardiola is delighted to have brought in a defender who made such an impression during Monaco’s Champions League campaign last season. — AFP