Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is being tipped to move for one of his former Barcelona players.
Dani Alves, currently plying his trade at Juventus, nearly moved to the Etihad Stadium in the winter transfer window, before being ruled our for two months with a cracked perone (fibula)Â bone.
This has not deterred Guardiola, however, and the pair have remained close friends.
Sportsmail claims friendly conversations were had between the two.
Alves, 34, is the most decorated player in Brazil’s history, and fancies a crack at English football before he retires.
He is also the second-most decorated footballer in European competitions of all time with nine European medals, behind only Italian legend Paolo Maldini.
There are a couple of potential obstacles for City to overcome if they want Alves. These include his age and wage demands. The club would not want to splash £120,000 a week, similar to the two-year deal he was asking for when he left Barcelona at the end of last season.
They could also lose out if Alves fancies a crack at the Far East, Chinese clubs are surely monitoring his availability as they continue to take their pick of world talent, a list which also includes Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney.
Guardiola is already planning for next season and believes he needs four more players along with a fit-again Jesus Gabriel and Ilkay Gundogan to make City strong enough to handle the challenge of winning the Premier Leauge and matching Europe’s finest in the Champions League.
A possible alternative to Alves could be Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin, but the Gunners would surely not want to sell to a Premier League rival.
By Steve Osborne               @BlizzardSteve75
