Manchester City Eyeing Move for Caglar Soyuncu in January as Leicester Name Huge Asking Price
Manchester City are reported to be considering a January move for Leicester City standout Caglar Soyuncu in January, as they seek defensive reinforcements for the title run-in.
City lost captain Vincent Kompany to Anderlecht in the summer and opted not to replace him directly in the transfer market, feeling the trio of Aymeric Laporte, John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi offered adequate options.
That decision has backfired rather spectacularly on Pep Guardiola, however. Injury to Laporte has left them desperately short of options, and they have had to resort to moving Fernandinho Rodri into central defence.
Those developments have coincided with a relatively poor run in form, by their own standards at least, that has seen them fall to 11 points behind leaders Liverpool, who are threatening to run away with their first league title since 1990.
It's not a mistake City are likely to make again, and according to The Times, it's an issue they may not wait until the summer to address. They report that City are considering a winter approach for Soyuncu, whose stellar performances for Leicester have seen them rise to second in the table.
The Turkish defender signed for the Foxes for £19m in the summer of 2018, and after spending his first season in the cold for long spells, he has stepped in to replace the departed Harry Maguire under Brendan Rodgers, and managed to improve their defence this season.
Their record nine goals conceded after 14 games is the league's best, and Soyuncu's form, coupled with the fee involved for Maguire in the summer and the strong negotiating position held by Leicester, means that a fee somewhere in the region of that £80m is likely to be required to lure the 23-year-old away.
Whether the champions are prepared for that sort of January outlay remains to be seen, though they were in the running for Maguire in the summer before being put off by the Foxes' asking price then - and may not want to make the same mistake twice.
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