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Manchester City set to take on Manchester United to sign £70m Lyon midfielder Tanguy Ndombele

Manchester City have joined the race with arch-rivals Manchester United for the signing of Lyon midfielder Tanguy Ndombele, according to reports.

Manchester City set to take on Manchester United to sign £70m Lyon midfielder Tanguy Ndombele

Bengaluru, Feb 15: Manchester City have joined the race with arch-rivals Manchester United for the signing of Lyon midfielder Tanguy Ndombele, according to reports.

The 22-year-old central midfielder is enjoying an impressive season with Lyon and has been attracting interest from all over Europe. Reports earlier stated that the Red Devils have been the frontrunner in the chase as they have already made an official enquiry for the player.

However, joining the race rivals Manchester City have apparently reached out to the Ligue 1 side for the French international, who is now seen as an ideal replacement Fernandinho.

Guardiola has repeatedly been frustrated in his attempts to find an heir for 33-year-old Fernandinho this year with Jorginho picking Chelsea over the Etihad while another target Fred signed for Manchester United in Summer.

The Citizens suffered yet another transfer blow in January when Ajax midfielder Frankei De Jong announced he would be joining Barcelona in the summer.

However, Guardiola believes he has finally found a suitable replacement in Ndombele whom they came up against in the Champions League group stage, earlier in the season. But again he may have to battle United to seal the deal who also have targetted the midfielder as an upgrade for Nemanja Matic. The 22-year-old is expected to command a high fee as his contract is set to last till 2023, and City are said to be ready as much as £70m.

Ndombele has been an ever-present for Lyon this campaign, missing just two games so far this season with 33 appearances in total. The midfielder is one of the reasons behind the French side finishing second in Champions league and his all-around qualities in the centre of the pitch, especially his stubbornness and drive to pressurize the opposition ball-carriers have been well applauded by the football fraternity.



City are said to be excited with Ndombele's such all-around crafts and believe the Lyon midfielder will be the perfect support for the attacking units who can expect more freedom in the final third.

However, Ndombele is not the only Lyon player City are targetting. The League leaders are also understood to be interested in another Lyon midfielder, Houssem Aouar who also is showing his dominance this term. However, at the moment their main focus is snatching up the player in Summer ahead of other targets.
Story first published: Friday, February 15, 2019, 15:35 [IST]
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