MANCHESTER CITY will battle Premier League rivals to sign £40million Napoli centre-back Kim Min-jae — dubbed ‘The Monster’.
The South Korean, 26, is attracting interest from Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham.
But SunSport understands City boss Pep Guardiola is an admirer of Kim, who only moved to Napoli from Fenerbahce last summer for £15m.
Strong, aggressive Kim is one of Serie A’s hottest stars following a stunning season and has a fairly low £40m release clause.
The Italians are keen to offer him a new deal but he is believed to fancy a move to England.
City are well stocked at centre-back with Ruben Dias, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji and Aymeric Laporte.
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But Guardiola will let Laporte leave while Stones and Ake have excelled as inverted full-backs.
Guardiola is also a fan of RB Leipzig bruiser Josko Gvardiol, who has a £97m release clause.
The Croat, 21, is likely to leave the Bundesliga.
He had been extensively linked to Chelsea last year but no move materialised.
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But Gvardiol’s reputation has continued to grow and several large clubs will be in the market.
The Blues may not need more defenders having already bought young talent Benoit Badiashile and Wesley Fofana this season.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
