Manchester City are set to battle Liverpool for Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud in the summer, as per reports.
According to a report by the Daily Mirror, Mahmoud Dahoud is attracting interest from Manchester City, with Pep Guardiola eyeing the Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder. The Citizens are now set to battle Premier League rivals Liverpool to sign the 21-year-old.
Dahoud has a burgeoning reputation in Germany as one of the most promising youngsters to have emerged out of the country in recent years. Having progressed through the ranks at Monchengladbach, he has gone on to become a well established member in the first team setup in the last three years.
2016/17 has seen Dahoud go from strength to strength, playing 32 matches in all competitions for the German club. And in what has been a below par campaign for Monchengladbach, the youngster has been one of the shining lights for his team, even bagging two goals and five assists.
With Dahoud’s stock constantly on the rise, he is a player who has been tracked by several clubs in recent months. Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus have previously been linked with the 21-year-old, but City and Liverpool have emerged as the front-runners to sign him in the summer.
Liverpool have been long-time admirers of Dahoud’s talent and tried to sign him last summer before the move was scuppered, owing to Granit Xhaka’s move to Arsenal. With just Jordan Henderson, Emre Can, Georginio Wijnaldum and Adam Lallana to choose from, Jurgen Klopp’s options in midfield are running thin.
Thus, they are reported to be in the market for a central midfielder and another move for Dahoud could be on the cards in the summer. But, they won’t be alone in their pursuit of the Syrian-born midfielder, with Manchester City also keeping a close eye on him.
In fact, Pep Guardiola had scouts sent to monitor Dahoud in Monchengladbach’s two fixtures last week. The City boss has an ageing squad at his disposal, especially in midfield with Yaya Toure soon reaching the end of his storied career at the Etihad, and Fernandinho blowing hot and cold this season.
Meanwhile, Fernando has never quite managed to match the heights of his Porto days at City while Fabian Delph has failed to make much of a mark since his move to the Etihad. Ilkay Gundogan had a promising start to his City career but has been sidelined by a long-term knee injury.
All this makes Dahoud a viable target, especially with his skills on the ball from deep within the midfield. With the German under-21 international having less than 15 months left on his current deal at Borussia-Park, he could be available for a cut-price fee of £8.5 million in the summer, which would tempt the two clubs even further.
