Even if Manchester City do finish inside the top five positions in the Premier League and find themselves victorious in lifting the FA Cup again, this summer looks likely to be one of upheaval at the Etihad.
After all, it’s already been confirmed that Pep Guardiola’s men are waving goodbye to City royalty in Kevin De Bruyne, with the Belgian unlikely to be the only face moved to one side by the serial trophy winners.
Whilst there will be an obvious sadness in the air that notable figures like De Bruyne are departing, an exciting, new horizon on offer will still be met with lively anticipation, with the light blue half of Manchester expected to open its doors to a whole host of fresh signings.
The potential new-look Man City
Guardiola’s flashy spenders did show off their intimidating might in the transfer window just this January when acquiring the services of Omar Marmoush for a hefty £59m.
Now, they could be about to splash even more cash on another equally exhilarating attacker in the form of Florian Wirtz, with the German midfielder rumoured to be leaving Bayer Leverkusen behind for a wild £102m.
Morgan Gibbs-White might also relocate to the Etihad for a whopping £100m, but City could win themselves a potential bargain by signing former Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Francisco Trincao.
A report from Caught Offside has revealed that Guardiola’s men could snap up the 25-year-old for as little as £33m, but Manchester United are also waiting to pounce alongside Arsenal and Newcastle United.
Whilst his prior stint in England was choppy, the Sporting star would surely relish an opportunity to strut his stuff again in the Premier League, with a potential here for Trincao to be the Spaniard’s next version of Leroy Sane patrolling down the City right flank.
How Trincao could be Man City's next Sane
Whilst City fans will likely wax lyrical about the past exploits of Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez when commenting on memorable ex-wingers, Sane doesn’t always find himself in the same glowing conversation.
Indeed, after only bagging five Premier League goals during his debut season, the German would go down as a slow burner to the City masses when finally improving, with an impressive tally of 83 goals and assists eventually coming his way from 135 total contests.
Trincao – much like Sane – has unfortunately been negatively impacted by the bright lights of the English game before.
Indeed, only three goals came his way from 30 appearances at Molineux. However, unlike the Bayern Munich number ten, the Portuguese forward was never given the platform to kick on and rebuild his dented reputation until now.
Since this one season misfire in the West Midlands, the 25-year-old has been able to transform his fortunes on home soil and turn into a menace up top for his current employers, with the Sporting winger left-footed in approach much like his German counterpart, despite being able to line up down both the left and right channels like the 29-year-old.
24/25
51
9
18
23/24
48
10
10
22/23
52
13
4
Looking at the table above, City would be winning themselves a golden bargain snapping up Trincao for just £33m, with a jaw-dropping 18 assists picked up by the former Wolves reject from 51 games this season.
He definitely has the potential, therefore, to reenter the English game and take it by storm as a tricky, left-footed attacker in a similar vein to Sane.
Once lauded as a “special” talent when emerging up the ranks at Braga by football talent scout Jacek Kulig, this move could finally be the opportunity for Trincao to rip up the Premier League, with Sane’s eye for picking up goals and assists aplenty at the peak of his powers seen in the 25-year-old’s unbelievable game in Lisbon.
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