Manchester City expect to seal a deal to sign Porto’s Nico González, with the fee set to be the midfielder’s release clause of about £50m.
City are thought to have been reluctant to pay the clause but are poised to do so to add the former Barcelona player to their squad.
The 23-year-old would bolster Pep Guardiola’s options because he can operate as a defensive, central or attacking player. After Rodri’s season-ending knee injury, the manager is light in midfield.
He can call on Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes, the veterans Ilkay Gündogan and Kevin De Bruyne, and the utility player Rico Lewis, whom Guardiola has fielded in the position on occasion.
In January City signed the forward Omar Marmoush for €70m (£59.1m) plus €5m in add-ons from Eintracht Frankfurt and the defenders Vitor Reis, bought from Palmeiras for £29.6m, and Abdukodir Khusanov, signed for £33.8m from Lens, for a total of £122.5m.
