Manchester City Transfer News: Latest Rumours on Alex Grimaldo Ahead of January

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is reportedly interested in signing Benfica left-back Alex Grimaldo, but the Portuguese club’s £38.5 million asking price will likely prohibit the move.

According to Bruno Andrade of Portuguese outlet O Jogo (h/t the Daily Mail’s Pete Jenson), Benfica will expect to make a huge profit if they sell the 21-year-old, who only arrived in January for £1.3 million.

The Spaniard played for Barcelona’s youth side while Guardiola was manager of the senior team, so the City manager will be familiar with the La Masia graduate.

Indeed, Grimaldo made his debut for Barcelona B in 2011—while Guardiola was still in charge—at the age of 15 years and 349 days, making him the youngest player to ever feature in Spain’s second tier, per Jenson.

The full-back went on to make almost 100 appearances for the youth side, but a lengthy spell on the sidelines saw him miss his chance to make the step to the senior side and he was sold.

Football journalist Rafael Hernandez believes Barcelona made a mistake in casting him …

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