Sterling, 27, is set to join Chelsea in the coming days. The Blues have agreed a £45m deal with Manchester City. The final cost of the move could reach £50m pending extras. The England winger is also said to have received a pay rise since the transfer. He is set to become Chelsea’s highest-paid player, surpassing N’Golo Kante’s reported £290,000-a-week wages. City have already pocketed over £100m from Erling Haaland, Kalvin Phillips and Julian Alvarez this summer. Goalkeeper Stefan Ortega arrived from Arminia Bielefeld as a free agent. However, the Cityzens have already recouped £45m from the sale of Gabriel Jesus to Arsenal. Coupled with Sterling’s cash influx and the departures of Gavin Bazunu (£12m), Romeo Lavia (£10.5m), Pedro Porro (£7.2m) Darko Gyabi (£5m) and Ko Itakura (£4.3m) , City will have made a net profit on the sales. This will give them permission to take another dive. According to Italian journalist Rudi Galetti, that’s exactly what’s coming. He tweeted that once Sterling completes his move to Chelsea, City will focus on finalizing a deal to sign Brighton’s Mark Cucurella.
Transfer talks ‘progressing well’
The Spanish left-back, 23, enjoyed a fantastic debut for England last season. His impeccable efforts saw him win the Brighton Player of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season awards. They also saw him attract the attention of Manchester City who only have three recognized full-backs in their ranks (Kyle Walker, Joao Cancelo and Oleksandr Zinchenko). Fabrizio Romano previously confirmed Cucurella was a target for Man City. Galetti now states that talks over a move to the Etihad are “progressing well”. In fact, City are reportedly keen to speed up negotiations once Sterling goes and complete a deal in a hurry. While the journalist did not mention a transfer fee, Romano previously claimed that Brighton could earn up to £50m.
Cucurella would complete the Man City squad
Very few areas of Guardiola’s squad can be described as underpowered. However, it cannot be argued that City are short on depth at the back. Kyle Walker remains a top performer, although at 32, he will start to struggle to feature the two to three times a week that City’s schedule often demands. Cancelo is the main left-back despite being right-footed. However, he also doubles as Walker’s main back-up on the right. Nathan Ake can cover at left-back when needed, although the Dutchman has been linked with Chelsea. As such, adding Cucurella to the mix would give Guardiola breathing room at the back. And if his first season at the AMEX was anything to go by, he will have no trouble stepping up to City’s side. The only other positions under control at City were centre-forward and midfield when it looked like Fernandinho would be leaving. However, the arrivals of Haaland and Phillips have emphatically put those issues to bed.
