Man City have identified the Wolves striker and Tottenham Hotspur are targeting Pedro Neto as a potential replacement for Julian Alvarez.
It comes as new details emerged of Alvarez’s decision to leave the reigning Premier League champions, with two key factors behind the Argentine’s impending departure.
Alvarez is poised to complete a move to Atletico Madrid after the La Liga giants agreed a fee of €95m (£82m) with Man City – a significant profit on the £14m the Citizens paid River Plate to sign in January 2022 brought the attacker to England.
The 24-year-old, who has agreed personal terms with Atletico, will leave Man City after scoring 36 goals and providing 18 assists in 103 games and winning two Premier League titles as well as the FA Cup, Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup. Cup.
With Brazilian winger Savinho still City’s only new signing of the summer window so far, Alvarez’s exit is likely to force Pep Guardiola to add more attacking reinforcements to his squad.
A report from the Telegraph claimed that Portugal international Neto is “one of the players who have interested City” as the club scouts.
The news of City’s interest in Neto is likely to come as a blow to Tottenham and Arsenal after TEAMtalk exclusively revealed last month that the two north London rivals were keen on the Wolves forward.
Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano sent a new update on Neto’s situation last weekend, with Tottenham expected to “step up” their efforts to sign the 24-year-old, who has 14 goals and 24 assists for Wolves since joining in 2019. joined from Braga.
Gary O’Neil, the Wolves manager, recently admitted that “no one will stand in Pedro’s way if a huge offer from a top club comes in.”
It is believed that a £60m bid would tempt Wolves into selling the player, with competition to secure Neto’s signature likely to intensify ahead of the August 30 transfer deadline.
Revealed: Reasons behind Julian Alvarez’s departure from Man City
Meanwhile, Football Insider claimed that a hunger for more first-team football and a desire to play in a warmer climate contributed to Alvarez’s push to leave Man City.
Alvarez is said to have become frustrated with Guardiola’s tendency to leave him out of the squad for big games and has opted to move to Europe, with the 2022 World Cup winner showing no interest in joining another Premier League club.
Although Guardiola is believed to have hoped to keep hold of Alvarez, the manager’s policy of allowing disgruntled players to leave meant an exit from Man City was inevitable as soon as the player signaled his intention to leave.