Manchester City have somewhat of a rebuild on their hands.
For the first time in eight years, Manchester City failed to win a trophy, crashing out before the round of 16 in the Champions League, losing in the final of the FA Cup and putting in extremely underwhelming Carabo Cup and Premier League campaigns.
Club legend Kevin De Bruyne is leaving after 10 years and it appears time is up for some other veterans of the squad, meaning Pep Guardiola will need to significantly re-jig his tactics heading into the next season.
Manchester City to place defining bid for centre-midfielder very soon
A big positive for Manchester City came in the shape of 2024 Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, who returned to action in the closing stages of their final game of the season against Fulham, but questions on who he will line up alongside next season remained.
The priority is to replace De Bruyne, and whilst that's an almost impossible task, Guardiola and Co. are going to give it a good go.
AC Milan's Dutch midfielder Tijjani Reijnders, who is recognised by FourFourTwo in our list of the best central midfielders in the world, is the main target to try and do so, with Man City already seeing a bid shutdown by the Italian club.
His current club value him at €75 million including bonuses, where as the first bid tabled was in the region of €55 million including €5 million in bonuses.
Calciomercato believe the club and the player already have a deal, and they are now just waiting on the clubs to agree a fee. Gazzetta Dello Sport believe a fee in the region of €70 million can be reached for the player, and his father, who is also his agent, wants the deal closed quickly so he can play at the Club World Cup.
Corriere Dello Sport expect a bid of the value AC Milan want will be sent, ensuring a quick deal can be made between the two clubs.
Whilst not a direct replacement for De Bruyne, Reijnders would represent a coup for Manchester City. He registered 20 goal contributions across all competitions last season, and alongside a more agile attacking midfielder would be able to help ease the burden on players around him to step up in De Bruyne's absence.
However, it is likely a deal will see them paying €25 million over his value according to Transfermarkt, so would require him to hit the ground running as soon as possible to represent good value.
