MANCHESTER CITY are set to battle Barcelona and Real Madrid in the race for Napoli’s Fabian Ruiz, according to reports.
Pep Guardiola is on the hunt for a replacement for club legend David Silva, who has already confirmed he will leave the Premier League champions at the end of the season.
Ruiz, 23, has popped up on the radars of a host of European giants after a breakout year in Italy last term and was named Spain’s best player at the Under-21 European Championships.
City are now stepping up their pursuit for his signature by sending a scout to watch Napoli’s Champions League game against Salzburg on Wednesday night, according to The Guardian.
Barcelona director of football Eric Abidal watched Ruiz in action last month, but was thought to be unhappy by the midfielder provoking Lecce fans following a 4-1 win.
The Spanish No8 remains under contract at the San Paolo Stadium stadium until 2023, after only moving to Naples last year for 27million after 14 years at Real Betis.
Club chairmanAurelio De Laurentiis, said last week: I paid 30m for Fabin and hes a fantastic player. If some of the European top clubs were to offer 180m we can start talking about selling him.
Rumours that Ruiz is on City’s radar spells bad news for Phil Foden, who had been tipped as the man to replace David Silva at the Etihad next season.
The England Under-21s star has committed his future to his boyhood club, despite struggling for first-team chances.
And SunSport exclusively revealed earlier this month that Foden is the ONLY player City will never sell even for 500 million euros.
Guardiola said: We didnt give Foden a new contract by accident.
He is the only player that cant be sold under any circumstances the only one. Not even for 500m euros.
“Phils going nowhere Phil IS City. We wont be signing anyone else for that position.
When David Silva leaves, we know exactly who our new magician will be.
