Manchester City are reportedly in talks to sign the Portuguese centre-back Ruben Dias.
Manchester City are reportedly in talks to sign Benfica centre-back Ruben Dias. The Portuguese ace is rated around 50m pounds but City are planning to include Nicolas Otamendi as part of the deal.
Another report claims that Man City have almost sealed the deal for a fee worth €50m with €15m add-ons.
Dias is one of the highly coveted centre-backs in Europe following his rise to prominence in a short space of time. A regular for the Portuguese national team, Dias has been an integral part of Benfica since breaking into the first team in 2017.
Benfica manager Jorge Jesus also commented on Dias’ future.
There are no untouchable players. I mean… there are essential players, like Messi or Ronaldo, but these are from another galaxy.
“Then there are important players like Ruben Dias. He’s one of the starters of the team, made at the Academia do Seixal and the only starter from the Portuguese international who plays at Benfica – at a team like Benfica, just having a starter in the national team means something.
“He’s a player with a lot of value and is important in that sector that, at the moment, only has three options because we have not yet signed the defender we want. He’s essential in the team. But at Benfica I was used to the best being signed, it’s nothing new. If you start with Ruben Dias… if you ask me if I’d like (that he left), I wouldn’t like it. But if the financial factor is important for the club, we have to understand. Managers must be prepared for this.”
The 23-year-old has also been a subject to interest of Tottenham Hotspurs but City look to have won the race. Jose Mourino turns out to be an admirer of the young centre-back but his price tag proved too much for Spurs.
Man City boss Pep Guardiola is desperate to add reinforcements to the backline as the defensive woes contributed a lot to his side’s debacles last season.
The signing of Nathan Ake is an indication for things to come while Man City are said to be keeping tabs on Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly.
Another option on the table is Sevilla defender Jules Kounde, who took La Liga by storm last season. The Andalusian club are expecting a new offer from Citizens in the coming days as they have previously rejected an offer worth €55m.
It remains to be seen whether City would look to add another centre-back once they sign Dias from Benfica.
Dias has all the attributes to succeed at Etihad and might be the centre-back Guardiola have been hoping to sign as a successor to Vincent Kompany.
