Bayern's No.1 target said no — so City worked down the list

Manchester City's summer midfield rebuild very nearly looked very different. According to German football expert Christian Falk, writing for CF Bayern Insider, the Blues had Aleksandar Pavlovic at the top of their list before eventually turning to Ayyoub Bouaddi.

Falk claims City held talks over the Bayern Munich man as early as March, with the Bundesliga side's 22-year-old viewed as the number one option for the position. The interest was, in his words, "incredibly concrete".

"Manchester City had Aleksandar Pavlović as their number one option for the position."

It is a detail that puts the scale of City's summer spending into sharper focus. Falk suggests the Blues could have paid as much as €100m (£85.8m) for Pavlovic — and that figure was only the starting point.

Pavlovic, though, needed time to think. At 22, he was hardly in a rush. In the end, he decided to stay at the Allianz Arena, a choice that left City to move on to their second choice on the list.

That second choice was Lille's Ayyoub Bouaddi, who arrived at the Etihad for €95m (£81.5m). The near-identical fee tells its own story about how highly City rated Pavlovic — and how determined they were to land a midfielder of that profile regardless of the cost.

City's need was obvious. Rodri's departure left a hole in the centre of the pitch, and the club moved to fill it with three new central midfielders this summer: Bouaddi, Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernandez all came through the door.

Pavlovic, for his part, was not the only alternative explored. The Athletic also revealed an enquiry for Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton, another sign of how thorough the recruitment drive was.

Falk insists there was no formal offer lodged with Bayern — the club were simply made aware of the interest. But he is clear on how close this one came.

"If he'd said yes, he'd have been a Manchester City player by now, so you can see just how concrete it was. In the end, he decided for Bayern Munich."

Football's sliding doors, and all that. City ended up with their second pick for a fee that barely differed from what they would have paid for their first. Sometimes Plan B costs just as much as Plan A.