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Fabrizio Romano shares Marc Guehi to Man City bombshell after Semenyo deal
Fabrizio Romano has shared some encouraging news on Man City‘s transfer plans right after their blockbuster January deal for Antoine Semenyo.
Man City confirm Antoine Semenyo signing after weeks of talks
City finally confirmed the signing of Semenyo from Bournemouth in a £64 million deal, with the Ghana international penning a five-and-a-half-year contract at the Etihad Stadium.
The transfer takes City’s spending over the past 12 months to an astonishing £425 million for a total of 14 new players, but their excellence as a selling club means they’ve actually still registered a healthy net spend over the last few years.
Make no mistake, Pep Guardiola‘s side have offset their investments by balancing the books through outgoings, and their reward for doing so is room on the PSR balance sheet for a star like Semenyo.
City agreed a deal with Bournemouth worth £62.5 million guaranteed plus £1.5 million in performance-related bonuses.
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The agreement also includes a 10 percent sell-on clause, with City managing to secure better payment terms by negotiating outside Semenyo’s release clause rather than simply triggering it.
Guardiola’s men currently sit second in the Premier League table, six points behind leaders Arsenal with a game in hand.
City have struggled for consistency recently, drawing three successive games against Sunderland, Chelsea and Brighton, creating mounting pressure to strengthen their options in January.
Guardiola is also without three key first-team centre-backs right now, with Rúben Dias, Josko Gvardiol and John Stones all unavailable.
“[Ruben has injured his] hamstring [and will be out for] between four and six weeks. [Josko] is out for a long time,” Guardiola said in a press conference this week. “[Stones] is not ready for the next games.
“Of course, he’s an important player for us for a long time, and he was injured for a long time last season; this season looks the same. He’s trying a lot and trying everything, but he’s not fit.”
Their defensive crisis has prompted the Sky Blues to look at an emergency early deal for Crystal Palace stalwart Marc Guehi, who was supposed to be a target for the summer.
Guehi, who is out of contract at the end of the season, is also attracting interest from the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid with the race for his signature poised to heat up later this year.
However, City want to steal a march now, with Romano sharing an update on Friday.
Man City are convinced they can sign Marc Guehi ‘easily’ in January
Speaking on his YouTube channel, the reliable transfer journalist said that City are ‘really convinced’ they can sign Guehi in January ‘quite easily’, and remain working on a deal for the England international behind-closed-doors.
“Man City are still trying to make the deal happen for Marc Guehi in January,” Romano started.
“My information is that City believe internally they can reach an agreement with Palace for Guehi quite easily. So it should not be a problem to reach a club-to-club agreement with Palace.
“Palace are open to finding a solution in January for Guehi.
“City are really convinced they can reach an agreement, but it is the player who has to decide.”
Reports suggest it could take around £30 million to strike a January deal, which is still an absolute bargain for an established England centre-back who hasn’t even hit his peak years yet.
The competition for his signature this summer will be rife, yet City can swoop in ahead of everyone and secure what would still be one of the biggest snips of 2026.
Called a ‘sensational talent’ by Steve Parish, it wasn’t that long ago Palace rejected an audacious £70 million bid from Tottenham for Guehi, but now City can sign him for less than half the price.
Quick Semenyo repeat: Man City confident of signing PL star in coming days
Manchester City are confident of sealing a second signing in the winter transfer window after Antoine Semenyo.
