{"id":15580,"date":"2026-07-09T00:03:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T00:03:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=15580"},"modified":"2026-07-09T00:03:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T00:03:36","slug":"man-city-transfer-news-75m-chelsea-player-wanted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=15580","title":{"rendered":"Man City transfer news: \u00a375m Chelsea player wanted"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n\t\t\t<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Man City transfer news: Man City eye Chelsea defender Malo Gusto as Enzo Maresca begins Etihad rebuild<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Man City transfer news: Enzo Maresca isn\u2019t messing about. The new Manchester City boss has barely got his feet under the desk following Pep Guardiola\u2019s exit, but the blueprint for his Etihad revolution is already taking shape. He wants energy. He demands tactical fluidity, crisp passing, and a backline that can run all day. He needs options, basically. According to reports from The Athletic, City\u2019s recruitment team has fixed their gaze firmly on Chelsea right-back Malo Gusto.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 23-year-old Frenchman enjoyed a massive breakout campaign last year, racking up 49 appearances for the Blues across all competitions. He chipped in with two Premier League goals and three assists, but it\u2019s his comfort in advanced areas that has really attracted attention from Manchester. He loves a high press. He rarely gives the ball away. For a manager like Maresca, who knows the Stamford Bridge squad inside out after his eighteen-month stint in West London, Gusto fits the profile perfectly.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The \u00a375 million sticking point<\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prize assets don\u2019t come cheap, though. The Independent suggests Chelsea are digging their heels in, slapping a hefty \u00a375 million price tag on the defender.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s a massive valuation. Chelsea executives are well aware of how vital Gusto is, especially given Reece James\u2019s wretched luck with injuries. Selling a top-tier fullback to a direct Premier League rival is a massive risk they aren\u2019t keen to take.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">City have the cash, obviously, but financial sanity will dictate this deal. They won\u2019t be held to ransom. Unless the Stamford Bridge board lowers that steep price, Etihad chiefs will look at alternative targets. Very few fullbacks on the market offer this exact tactical package. Maresca clearly wants to raid his former employers, but the ball is now firmly in Chelsea\u2019s court. Both heavyweights are refusing to blink.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<!-- Article End --><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-author\">\n<div class=\"c-author__avatar\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aacadf3e95bfb01ce13b429dee6bd0a5e90e6507900d73b4a9224a6381a644be?s=75&amp;d=mm&amp;r=g\" width=\"75\" height=\"75\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"c-author__thumb\" alt=\"Photo of Rohit Sarkar\"\/>\n    <\/div>\n<h3 class=\"c-author__name\">Rohit Sarkar<\/h3>\n<div class=\"c-author__bio\">\n<p>Rohit Sarkar is a passionate writer with a deep love for multiple sports, but his favourites are football and cricket. Since 2017, he has been covering football and cricket news with a keen eye for detail and compelling storytelling. He is a fan of the beautiful game and a specialist\u2026<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <!-- \/\/c-author --><\/p>\n<p> <!-- \/\/c-share --><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t    <!-- Begin Tabola Creative --><\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Man City transfer news: Man City eye Chelsea defender Malo Gusto as Enzo Maresca begins&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}