REALITY CHEQUE
City rivals will find it even harder next season as Guardiola is handed £200m fund to recruit new stars to the Etihad
PEP GUARDIOLA will be handed up to £200million this summer to keep Premier League champions Manchester City ahead of the chasing pack.
He is set to strengthen in at least three positions to maintain City’s place as the dominant force in England and turn them into a side capable of winning the Champions League. The Etihad
boss, who has made a total spend of £448m in his two seasons in charge, has been promised more funds by City’s hierarchy and could take his overall outlay to £650m this summer.
Guardiola has targeted a centre-back, holding midfielder and versatile forward, with City having identified several targets they want to tie up before the World Cup in June.
Shakhtar Donetsk’s Fred, Napoli’s Jorginho, Nice’s Jean-Michael Seri and Borussia Dortmund’s Julian Weigl – all of whom would cost around £40m each – are among his central midfield targets, with Yaya Toure leaving and Fernandinho needing help.
Guardiola is also keen on Monaco’s £90m-rated forward Thomas Lemar, and could resurrect his £60m bid for Leicester playmaker Riyad Mahrez.
With Vincent Kompany no longer able to play the bulk of a season and John Stones having struggled, a central defender is also on the list, with Spurs’ Toby Alderweireld potentially following his old team-mate Kyle Walker to the Etihad.
City’s title-winning squad is expected to share a huge £10m bonus pot for their triumph, with some players pocketing a one-off payment in excess of £1m for their efforts.
Many of the contracts that City’s players are on contain financial incentives.
Kevin De Bruyne is set to land around £500,000 for winning the title, as well as £800,000 for playing more than 60 per cent of City’s Premier League games.