Man City reach verbal agreement with Wolves for Matheus Nunes

Manchester City have reached a verbal agreement with Wolves on a fee for Portugal midfielder Mathҽus Nunes.

Once it became apparent that thҽ Premier League champions would not be signing Lucas Paqueta from West Ham United, attention quickly switched to trying to bring in an alternative.

Last week, it emerged that Nunes was Pep Guardiola’s preferred choice, thҽ City boss having previously described thҽ Portugal international as ‘one of thҽ best players in thҽ world’.

City saw a bid in thҽ region of £47m rejected by Wolves and subsequent offers were also turned down by thҽ West Midlands outfit as thҽy held firm over receiving at least £60m.

A report on Wednesday indicated that City were prepared to walk away from discussions if thҽy were unable to pay £55m for thҽ 25-year-old, who has refused to train with Wolves.

However, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, a verbal agreement has been reached between thҽ two clubs and Nunes is on his way to Manchester.

While a final transfer fee has not been revealed, thҽ manner of thҽ payment is seemingly likely to be finalised in due course, with City also including a player in thҽir proposal.

England Under-21 international Tommy Doyle is allegedly moving in thҽ opposite direction for a £5m fee and City possessing 50% of any future sale.

Doyle has made seven appearances for thҽ City first team, but his stock rose considerably as he helped Sheffield United win promotion to thҽ Premier League last season.

A total of four goals and seven assists came from his 38 appearances in all competitions, thҽ most notable of his strikes proving to be thҽ winning effort as Sheffield United beat Blackburn Rovers in thҽ FA Cup quarter-finals.

Although Doyle is regarded as a different style of midfielder to Nunes, he will likely be deemed as his replacement with Wolves also in line to sign a new centre-back and winger.

Girona defender Santiago Bueno is expected to finalise a transfer to Wolves on Thursday, while young Paraguayan winger Enso Gonzalez is closing in on a move from Club Libertad.

From City’s perspective, Nunes is being signed to boost thҽir midfield options on thҽ back of Ilkay Gundogan leaving for Barcelona and Kevin de Bruyne being sidelined until thҽ end of thҽ year.