Manchester United and City Alerted Over French Millionaires' Next Big Move – Report
French big spenders Paris Saint Germain and Monaco are ready to battle with Manchester United and City to sign Porto defender Eliaquim Mangala next summer.
The 22-year-old French international is one of the most promising centre-backs around Europe and reports claimed last January Manchester City was in pole position to secure his services with David Moyes also interested in acquire his services to replace Nemanja Vidic.
However, according to Portuguese Newspaper A Bola the two loaded French sides are now also in the race for the Porto centre-back and may have an advantage in signing Mangala who is French.
Manuel Pellegrini's side were reportedly close to sign the 22-year-old alongside his team-mate Fernando for a £46m fee during the January transfer window but the deal collapsed on deadline day and the pair finally stayed at Porto.
The Chilean boss is willing to renew his efforts at signing Mangala in the summer as he is looking for a reliable centre-back to pair Vincent Kompany in the centre of the defence - as Joleon Lescott will leave the team at the end of the season and Martin Demichelis and Matija Nastasic have failed to convince him during his first season at the Etihad.
Meanwhile, Moyes has earmarked Mangala as one of his main targets to replace Vidic, who recently confirmed he would be leaving Old Trafford at the end of the summer when his contract expires.
Mangala has a £40m release clause in his contract and it has been reported that Porto are willing to negotiate his deal at the end of the season.
The Portuguese side signed him in the summer of 2011 for £5.5million and with a number of big European clubs interested in his services they are confident of recouping a lucrative amount of money as they did in the past with other defenders like Pepe, who moved to Real Madrid, or former Chelsea star Ricardo Carvalho.
© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.