As per Spanish outlet Super Deporte, Manchester City are interested in signing Barcelona central defender Ronald Araujo in the upcoming summer transfer window.
The lowdown: Best laid plans...
Despite the ongoing pursuit of three possible trophies, it would appear that City, and in particular director of football Txiki Begiristain, are already hard at work planning the summer spending.
[web_stories_embed url="https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/man-city-latest-developments-2/" title="Man City latest developments!" poster="" width="360" height="600" align="none"]
The Sky Blues have of course been strongly tipped to sign Erling Haaland and have now become the latest club to be linked with the 23-year-old Barcelona defender as fresh contract talks stutter at Camp Nou.
Out of contract in Spain in 2023 (Transfermarkt), the Catalan giants continue to negotiate with Araujo but interest from City appears to loom large.
The latest: Spanish source shares update...
As per SD, the Citizens 'want to take advantage' of the impasse between club and player.
It's claimed that if no new deal is forthcoming, Barca will be forced to sell the nine-cap Uruguay ace in the summer in order to avoid losing a prized asset for nothing next year.
Whilst there is no mention of a fee for Araujo, the report states that the La Liga club would expect a 'good amount of money' for the £36million valued defender.
The verdict: First choice CB partner?
At present, City boss Pep Guardiola boasts impressive strength in depth at centre-back, with one of John Stones or Aymeric Laporte rotating alongside mainstay Ruben Dias.
However, the Spaniard may look to find a settled partner for Dias and having impressed former Etihad favourite Pablo Zabaleta recently, Araujo looks to be a leading candidate for the role.
According to WhoScored, the Uruguayan powerhouse has stacked up impressively when compared to Laporte and Stones this season, winning 1.1 tackles on average per league outing compared to the Frenchman with 1.0 and the Englishman's lowly 0.3 per match.
At just 23 and already with 117 professional career appearances, adding Araujo to the ranks would be a smart move.
In other news: Man City determined to strengthen one key position …find out more here.