Nunes set for Manchester City move after agreeing deal

Portuguese international Matheus Nunes is on the way to joining Manchester City after the defending Premier League champions reached a verbal agreement with Wolves to sign the Portuguese international for around £427 million, including add-ons.

Matheus Nunes has refused to train with the team for the last couple of days in a bid to force a move to Manchester City, who are keen on bolstering their squad, which has been affected by the departure of some key players like Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez amongst others and the injury to Kevin De Bruyne, who is out for the next couple of months.

Manchester City has signed winger Jeremy Doku from Stade Rennes in the French Ligue 1 and Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea in a 30 million pound deal, and they could be adding the midfielder Matheus Nunes next in a couple of hours.

Reaching a verbal agreement has not been straightforward, as Wolves earlier rejected Manchester City’s initial bid from last week. However, the 25-year-old is set to move to Etihad Stadium after a £47 million agreement plus Wolves bringing in City’s England Under-21 international Tommy Doyle on loan, with the option of a £4.3m transfer that would include a huge sell-on clause for City.

It is a surprising twist to the deal as Manchester City did not meet the expected valuation that Wolves placed on the player, which was around £60 million. Furthermore, Wolves manager Gary O’Neil, after Tuesday’s Carabao Cup fixture, said that he expected Matheus Nunes to stay at the club.

“As far as I’m aware, there’s been no improved bid. Matheus Nunes is still our player; we have a long contract with him, and at this moment, I fully expect him to be here come September 2. The next few days will be key, of course, and conversations will take place that will be private between me and Matheus, and I’m sure the situation will be resolved.” O’Neil said.

With less than 24 hours to go, both teams have to sort out the minor transfer details to get the deal over the line before the transfer window slams shut.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu