Manchester City are undeterred by a reported €700m release clause and will bring Real Madrid star Isco to the Etihad next summer, reports AS.
Pep Guardiola is so keen on making the deal happen that the defending Premier League champions already contacted the Spain international’s representatives to begin talks over personal terms.
The Cityzens, the report claims, will launch a €86m bid to bring the perennial Champions League winners to the negotiating table. However, the Spanish giants are unlikely to sell for less than the €117m fee claimed for the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus last summer.
Even with UEFA FFP regulations to consider, the money won’t be an issue for a club of Manchester City’s riches.
Real are keen to bring Eden Hazard, 27, from Chelsea next summer and selling 26-year-old Isco would ease the pain of the fee Los Merengues expect to pay. Their path is eased with the Belgium international repeatedly telling the media that his dream is to play in the famous white strip.
While Real would be reluctant sellers, their notoriously fickle crowd isn’t helping matters. Isco found himself on the wrong end of their opprobrium as the club’s patchy form descended into farce with a 3 – 0 home defeat to CSKA Moscow in a Champions League dead rubber.
Isco didn’t hold back in venting his own feelings about the jeers, with AS claiming the player responded “What? What do you want?”, before returning the invective.
With the relationship breaking down, a costly summer departure feels inevitable.
