Ruthless Guardiola pushing Man City to sign elite Spanish playmaker as De Bruyne successor in marquee 2024 transfer

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has reportedly ready to all out to sign Dani Olmo after making him his club’s priority signing for 2024 and amid claims the Spanish playmaker can leave RB Leipzig next summer.

The Cityzens’ reign of success under Guardiola has been nothing short of remarkable with Manchester City this season chasing an unprecedented fourth successive Premier League title. And a major factor in that run of success has been the sublime form of world-class Belgian star Kevin De Bruyne, who is quite rightly regarded as one of the top players in the world game.

Signed from Wolfsburg for a then club-record fee of £55m in summer 2015, De Bruyne has collected 13 major honours during his eight years at the club, as well as contributing an impressive 96 goals in 358 appearances.

However, at the age of 32, City are wary that the player cannot may not be able to maintain his lofty standards for that much longer. More over, and with injuries starting to bite De Bruyne hard, Guardiola is starting to piece together a potential succession plan for his star midfielder.

Indeed, De Bruyne’s current deal at the Etihad is due to expire in summer 2025 and talks over an extension have been shelved for the time being and while the midfielder recovers from the hamstring injury that has limited him to just a single Premier League appearance this season.

Regardless of when he recovers from that injury – and the latest reports claim De Bruyne is ahead of his return date of late 2023 – it seems Guardiola is already planning for life after City’s talismanic captain.

To that end, Guardiola has reportedly set his heart on the capture of Spain playmaker Olmo.

READ MORE ~ The top 10 chance creators in Europe’s big five leagues: three Prem stars among elite

Man City ready to activate Dani Olmo release clause

The 25-year-old star was the subject of enquiries from City over the summer, while the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona have also expressed their admiration for the 32-times capped Spain playmaker in the past.

However, the plethora of interest in his services did lead to Olmo being offered a new deal with RB Leipzig, which earned him both a payrise and committed his services to the Bundesliga outfit until summer 2027.

Now according to Mundo Deportivo, City are ‘attentive’ to his possible signing and are ready to rigourously step up their chase for Olmo once again in 2024, with the player likely to be the club’s No 1 target going into the next two transfer windows.

And while a deal in the January window looks unlikely, City are ready to push hard to seal his signing come the summer and in light of a release clause coming into play.

To that end, the Spanish paper claims the exit clause in Olmo’s deal will be set at €60m (£51.8m) – a fee well within the Cityzens’ reach.

Mundo, however, does warn City that the fee needed to prise Olmo from Leipzig is ‘not prohibitive’ for other sides in addition for City. To that end, LaLiga’s big three – Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid – are also looking extremely closely at the player and could launch a move to rival Guardiola for the star.

Olmo boasts 26 goals and 20 assists for Leipzig during his 126 appearances for the club, giving him a goal involvement every 2.7 games he’s been involved in.

And having been in the La Masia academy prior to a move to Croatia with Dinamo Zagreb, there is a feeling in Spain that the player dreams of a return to his Catalonian roots.

DON’T MISS: Man City prepare serious move for top midfielder whose arrival will have declining star trembling