Man City tempt Brighton into Marc Cucurella transfer with interesting swap offer

Manchester City could offer James McAtee on loan to Brighton as a makeweight in a bid to land Marc Cucurella.

Cucurella, 23, is believed to be one of Pep Guardiola’s primary targets ahead of the 2022-23 campaign, with the Premier League champions keen to bolster their squad with a new left-back.

According to The Sun, Brighton currently value the Spaniard at around £40m, but the Citizens are hoping to bring that price down.

City are aware of the Seagulls interest in youngster McAtee and they are willing to send the midfielder on loan to the Amex Stadium as a makeweight in their offer for Cucurella.

The report adds that the 19-year-old youngster is highly regarded by the Citizens but they are believed to be open to the prospect of loaning him out to gain first-team experience, with a potential move to Brighton – who adopt an attractive style under Graham Potter – seemingly a suitable fit for the 19-year-old.

The report was shared on Twitter by City Xtra and it attracted plenty of attention from the club’s supporters.

“Decent deal.”
Credit: @IIM9320

“That would be great for Mcatee.”
Credit: @iamcalledamon

“McAtee to brighton would be incredible for him.”
Credit: @MCFC_Cee

“Would be some smart set of business all round. McAtee gets his breakthrough campaign and has regular Premier League minutes in the locker whilst City get their man for around £40M – when they were perhaps unlikely to stretch to Brighton’s asking price of ~£50M..”
Credit: @VayamLahoti

“Perfect. Get him some more prem experience as he’s not gonna be starting for us for a while”
Credit: @Mahrez_sznn

“Won’t happen as a loan. Could see it in a money plus player deal but I hope we don’t sell.”
Credit: @sargeantsaver

“Lets be real here theres no chance brighton decide to not cash in on him.”
Credit: @mcfcdavid_27

“If it’s a McAtee loan, this isn’t really worth getting annoyed at. But if it was up to me, I’d send Delap on loan instead. McAtee is such a Pep player that he should keep working closely with him like Foden did, and Brighton need a ST anyway — makes sense on all levels .”
Credit: @notsrini