Manchester City are putting the finishing touches to a deal that will bring Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Pierce Charles back to the club. The Northern Ireland international, now 20, originally came through the CFA before moving to Hillsborough in 2021 in search of first-team football.

City's move for Charles comes as current backup James Trafford attracts serious interest from Premier League sides Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur. The club have moved quickly to identify a replacement.

According to Joe Crann, the agreement will see Sheffield Wednesday guaranteed £3 million, with confidence at Hillsborough that add-ons will push the total to at least £5 million. The full value could exceed £10 million depending on other clauses in the deal.

Charles had a difficult 2025/26 campaign with Wednesday, who were relegated to League One, but he emerged as one of the few positives. He has established himself as Northern Ireland's starting goalkeeper, earning 12 senior caps, and his short-passing metrics are said to fit Enzo Maresca's system well.

A loan move is expected to follow the transfer, with City prioritising a Championship destination. The thinking is straightforward: sitting behind Gianluigi Donnarumma on the City bench would do little for a young keeper's development at this stage.

Preliminary discussions with ambitious Championship clubs may already be happening, with City's loan department looking for a destination that mirrors Maresca's high-pressing, playing-out-from-the-back approach.

Both clubs are keen to get the paperwork completed over the coming days, with City's first-team due back for pre-season on July 20. That would give Charles time to settle before the domestic season kicks off in August.

Elliot Anderson barely has his feet under the desk at Manchester City, but the club-record signing is already looking the part on the international stage.

The 23-year-old midfielder was at it again on Sunday, helping England edge past Mexico 3-2 to book a World Cup quarter-final spot. Goals from Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane did the damage, cancelling out strikes from Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez, with Thomas Tuchel's side playing most of the second half with ten men after Jarell Quansah's red card.

Anderson completed his £116m move from Nottingham Forest last week, with the formalities handled while he was with the England camp. That fee makes him the most expensive English player in history, narrowly surpassing the sum Real Madrid paid for Bellingham.

Midfield control

The early stages of the Mexico game were always going to be decided in midfield. Win that battle, quieten the home crowd, take control. Anderson, Rice and Bellingham did exactly that, stifling Mexico and scoring twice before half-time.

After Quansah's dismissal, the game became a defensive exercise. Tuchel sacrificed Anderson for an extra defender in the 75th minute. By that point, the numbers were already impressive: five tackles, three clearances, four recoveries, and six duels won from eight attempted.

The Independent's Lawrence Ostlere gave him a seven out of ten, writing: "Brilliant tackle to spark England's second goal. He is proving to be exactly the player this team have been missing for the past decade or more."

The Guardian's Nick Ames awarded the same rating, noting Anderson was "tasked with looking after Mora and largely handled the prodigy well. Tenacity played a part in Bellingham's second goal."

Price tag no burden

Big fees can weigh heavy. A record transfer, a World Cup knockout game, a raucous atmosphere — it could have gone wrong. It didn't.

Having Declan Rice alongside him — a player who went through a similar saga when he joined Arsenal for £105m in 2023 — surely helps. Anderson held strong when it mattered. City fans will hope that becomes a habit.

Brazil will look back on a first-half penalty miss by Bruno Guimaraes as the moment that got away from them. Haaland had been largely anonymous for most of the ninety minutes, but he found space to lose his marker Gabriel and glance home a cross from Andreas Schjelderup in the 79th minute. Eleven minutes later, the City forward put the tie beyond doubt, curling a fierce strike into the net from just outside the penalty area.

There was a late twist when referee Ismail Elfath pointed to the spot after ruling that Leo Ostigard had caught Casemiro with an elbow in stoppage time. Neymar made no mistake from the spot, but it did nothing more than tidy up the scoreline for a Brazil side now facing an early exit — their earliest departure from a World Cup since 1990.

Norway's reward is a quarter-final meeting with either England on Saturday.

A Familiar Rivalry, Slow to Ignite

Much of the pre-match attention centred on the personal duel between Haaland and Arsenal's Gabriel, two players well known to Premier League audiences for their combative meetings at club level. Yet on Sunday, that rivalry simmered rather than boiled for long spells.

It wasn't until past the half-hour mark that the pair had their first real coming-together, one that ended with Gabriel on the turf. Haaland's sole sight of goal in the first 45 minutes was routine for Alisson to collect, and the game generally lacked the spark many had anticipated.

That changed as the second half wore on. Haaland nearly broke the deadlock in the 67th minute, nipping in front of Douglas Santos to stretch for a cross supplied by Ajer, only for the effort to drift narrowly wide. Twelve minutes later came the goal that mattered — out-jumping Gabriel to head Norway in front. Not content with providing the assist for himself, Haaland then drove home a second goal unassisted, taking his personal tournament tally to seven in just four matches — a statement, perhaps, to Norway's likely next opponents in England.

Ancelotti's Future Now in Question

For Brazil, the result raises immediate questions over head coach Carlo Ancelotti's position. Brazil managed only 33.5% possession across the match and relied almost entirely on transitions to create danger, squandering the sparse opportunities that fell their way. Despite firing off 14 attempts, only four tested the goalkeeper, and their expected-goals tally of 2.73 — comfortably higher than Norway's 0.84 — tells its own story of wastefulness in front of goal.

Ancelotti took charge of the Brazilian national team in May 2025 following his exit from Real Madrid, guiding them through qualification for this tournament. He remains contracted until 2030, but this early elimination is likely to spark debate in Brazil over his future far sooner than anyone at the federation would have expected.

Elliot Anderson is through the door, but the sense around the club is that Enzo Maresca's squad still requires another body in midfield. The FA Cup and Carabao Cup holders signed Anderson from Nottingham Forest to address a clear gap, yet the prevailing view is that one more quality addition is needed.

So who might that be?

If the noise around the club is anything to go by, Lille's Ayyoub Bouaddi is the name that keeps coming up. In fact, he's the only midfielder consistently linked with a move to City this summer.

Bouaddi the primary target

Sam Lee, writing in the latest Transfer DealSheet for The Athletic, reports that City like and admire the Moroccan midfielder. According to Lee, the club have considered signing Bouaddi this summer and loaning him back to Lille. However, given his talent, they are also weighing up keeping him in Maresca's squad for the coming season.

Interestingly, Lee adds that City believe Bouaddi could slot in at right-back if needed.

Beyond Bouaddi, it's quiet on the midfield front. Chris Wheeler of the Daily Mail has mentioned City, alongside Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham, as having an interest in Bournemouth's Alex Scott. The Cherries have no intention of selling and are hoping to extend his contract, which runs until 2028.

A City move for Scott feels unlikely. Bournemouth don't want to sell, and he might not fit what City need.

It could also be that City's next midfield target simply hasn't been revealed yet. Hugo Viana has a habit of pivoting in the market. Whether that happens here isn't known.

For now, Bouaddi looks like the most practical option. City will need to find Rodri's long-term replacement eventually, and Bouaddi seems to fit the profile of exactly that. Whether they can get the deal done remains to be seen, but it makes sense.

With Morocco still in the World Cup and a quarter-final against France coming up, it's unlikely there will be any further updates on Bouaddi's future until Morocco's participation ends.

City have won the race to sign Jeremy Monga from Leicester City, beating Arsenal to the 16-year-old's signature. The winger had looked destined for the Premier League champions, but City made a late push that proved decisive.

Maresca's vision convinces Monga

According to Fabrizio Romano, City will pay Leicester £10 million for Monga. David Ornstein of The Athletic reports the fee is structured as £10 million plus £2.5 million in add-ons, with a sell-on clause also included in the deal.

Both Romano and Ornstein point to Maresca as a key factor in the transfer going through. The Italian manager's long-term plan for Monga was enough to convince the youngster to choose the Etihad over the Emirates.

Monga is the third youngest player ever to appear in the Premier League. He is an explosive right-footed winger who operates primarily from the left flank, using his dribbling and pace to beat defenders before cutting inside. He can also play on the right or through the middle.

For a 16-year-old, the raw material is all there. Whether he develops into the elite player those tools suggest will depend on what happens next, but Maresca has already sold him a vision that Arsenal could not match.

It is early days for the new manager, but this is a positive start. A signing like this — hijacked from a rival, driven by the manager's personal pitch — suggests the summer might not be as quiet as some feared.

Derby County are in advanced talks to take Manchester City striker Divin Mubama on loan for the upcoming season, according to journalist Pete O'Rourke.

The Championship side are looking to strengthen across the board this summer after narrowly missing out on a play-off spot last campaign.

What gives this particular deal an extra layer of sense from City's perspective is the presence of Ben Wilkinson on the Derby coaching staff. The former EDS manager — who spent a decade developing talent within the City Football Academy — was recently appointed as assistant to Jon Eustace at Pride Park.

That connection provides City's hierarchy with a level of trust they wouldn't ordinarily have when sending a promising youngster out on loan. Wilkinson knows the standards and knows exactly what Mubama needs from a developmental standpoint.

If the move goes through, Mubama would follow a familiar path of young strikers using the Championship as a springboard for their careers. From City's end, the logic is straightforward: guaranteed game-time maximises the player's value, while Wilkinson's presence means reliable feedback on his progress.

Personal terms are not expected to be an issue. What remains unclear is whether Mubama and his representatives will opt for Derby or consider other proposals from elsewhere.

Nathan Ake's move to Fenerbahce and John Stones' departure upon the expiry of his contract have left Manchester City's defence lighter on experience than it was at the start of the summer. Neither exit was exactly a shock — both men had been bit-part players last season — but their absence creates a problem nonetheless.

Ruben Dias has been linked with a move away too. With Ake and Stones already gone, losing the Portuguese international would be a significant blow.

Intangibles matter

Dias faces competition for a starting spot from Josko Gvardiol, Abdukodir Khusanov, Marc Guehi and Vitor Reis. Yet it is his leadership, presence and experience that City need most right now. When fit, he remains an elite centre-back. He is also the club's most experienced defender.

Bernardo Silva has already left this summer too. Three experienced players have now departed. A fourth would create a leadership void that might take too long to overcome.

Suitors rebuffed

According to Graeme Bailey of TeamTalk, City have rejected enquiries from Real Madrid, Barcelona and Chelsea for Dias. The club's stance is clear: the Portuguese international is not for sale. He is viewed as one of the foundations of Enzo Maresca's squad and no offers will be entertained.

That feels like the right call. City are entering a new era under Maresca and will need Dias showing the way on and off the pitch. Losing him now would be a gamble the club cannot afford to take.

That is why the fresh Jules Kounde noise deserves attention at the Etihad. ESPN’s transfer round-up, citing TEAMtalk, has placed City among the clubs alerted to the Barcelona defender’s potential availability this summer. Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Bayern Munich have also been linked.

A Hybrid Fit for Maresca

Kounde is not simply a right-back, nor is he only a centre-back pushed wide. He is the kind of hybrid defender who lets a coach redraw the back line without making an obvious substitution. For Enzo Maresca, still building the first Manchester City side of the post-Pep Guardiola era, that profile carries premium value.

Maresca has already made the brief clear. City’s official X account posted his line that the club will try to do “the most important thing in football”, which is to win. The next step is building a squad that gives him the control to do it.

City’s recruitment has already leaned hard into control. The club have confirmed an agreement with Nottingham Forest for Elliot Anderson, while Maresca’s early messaging has centred on standards, clarity and maintaining City’s football identity.

The next stage is not just adding talent. It is adding talent that protects the system when matches become stretched.

Three Layers in One Signing

Kounde gives City three layers in one signing. He can defend wide against elite wingers, step inside as an auxiliary centre-back and help form the back-three structure Maresca used so heavily in possession at Leicester and Chelsea.

That matters because City spent too much of last season asking midfielders to cover defensive compromises. Matheus Nunes’ right-back experiment may still have value. Kounde would be a specialist answer to the same question rather than another workaround.

The departure of Nathan Ake to Fenerbahce has sharpened the need for defenders who can cover more than one role without weakening the structure.

The Cost of Versatility

This is where the story becomes more complicated.

Barcelona are not dealing with an expendable fringe player. TEAMtalk reports that the Catalan club are seeking more than €50m for Kounde, while earlier interest from City has already underlined how highly he is viewed.

FourFourTwo reported last year that City had looked at Kounde during a period of right-back uncertainty, with Barcelona reluctant to lose him and his versatility viewed as a major part of his value.

That means City cannot treat this as an opportunistic depth play. If the market is being sounded out, the financial commitment will still resemble a starter-level investment.

In practical terms, Maresca and Hugo Viana have to answer one sharp question: is Kounde a transformative right-sided defender, or simply an expensive upgrade on a role City can cover internally?

Pre-Season Audit

The answer may depend on the tour. City’s pre-season games against Inter Milan, K-League All Stars and Atletico Madrid will give Maresca an early audit of his defensive options. If the right side of build-up looks vulnerable, Kounde becomes more than a rumour. He becomes a structural fix.

The easy post-Guardiola mistake would be to buy players who look like yesterday’s City solutions. Kounde is different.

He fits the modern requirement: duel security, positional flexibility and enough technical calm to invite pressure rather than simply clear it.

For Maresca, that is the shortcut. Kounde already lives in the grey area between full-back and centre-back, which is where City have built so much of their dominance.

City should not chase this at any price. But if Barcelona’s stance softens and the numbers fall into a realistic range, Kounde is the kind of defender who could make Maresca’s first system look coherent far quicker than most summer signings.

Manchester City are bringing Oliver Whatmuff back from Stockport County, barely days after his loan move to the League One side was confirmed.

The decision comes quickly. The move to Stockport was announced on Thursday and was seen as a significant step in the young goalkeeper's progression, with the promise of regular first-team football at a competitive level.

Whatmuff's recall means that opportunity has now been withdrawn. City have not publicly stated a reason for the change of plan.

Maresca's teams tend to operate in a 4-2-3-1 shape, built around possession and fluid movement through central areas. Given the quality City have in midfield, that shouldn't be a problem. But there are decisions to be made elsewhere.

Goalkeeper dilemma

Gianluigi Donnarumma was Guardiola's first-choice last season, keeping 15 clean sheets in his debut Premier League campaign. His shot-stopping is elite. His comfort on the ball? Less so.

James Trafford, meanwhile, was the cup goalkeeper and is far more comfortable with his feet. He also worked under Maresca during the Italian's time as Under-21s manager, which may count for something. At Leicester, Maresca favoured a ball-playing goalkeeper in Mads Hermansen. At Chelsea, he adapted his system to accommodate Robert Sanchez despite his limitations on the ball. So there's a precedent for either approach.

Full-back rotation

Maresca likes his full-backs to drift inside and create overloads in central areas during build-up. At Leicester, Ricardo Pereira and Hamza Choudhury played this role on the right. At Chelsea, it was Reece James and Malo Gusto.

That inverted role looks tailor-made for Nico O'Reilly, who was also coached by Maresca in the academy. The Englishman has already shown he can contribute in attack, scoring a brace in the Carabao Cup Final against Arsenal. On the right side, the full-back is likely to tuck in and form a three-man defensive line, probably involving Mattheus Nunes, Marc Guehi and Josko Gvardiol. Nunes played this more conservative role often last season. Maresca could also deploy a natural centre-back there, such as Khusanov, for extra defensive cover when O'Reilly pushes forward.

Midfield rebuild

The midfield is changing. Elliot Anderson has arrived in a record-breaking transfer and Bernardo Silva has departed. Anderson can play as either a holding midfielder — a role he performed for England during the World Cup — or as a more progressive option, which he did for Nottingham Forest last season. Rodri is likely to partner him deeper, assuming the Ballon d'Or winner stays amid transfer speculation.

At Chelsea, Maresca used Cole Palmer as his number ten, connecting play between defence and attack. Rayan Cherki looks well-suited to that role, capable of drifting wide or occupying central positions to create chances for the forwards.

Attack

City scored 77 league goals last season, the most in the division. Erling Haaland contributed 27 of them. Maresca demands hard work from his centre-forward, asking him to combine closely with the number ten and stay involved in build-up. That worked well with Nicolas Jackson and Palmer at Chelsea. Haaland is a different profile, but he'll still be expected to support build-up and stretch defences alongside the likes of Jeremy Doku, Antoine Semenyo, Savinho and Omar Marmoush.

In wide areas, Maresca favours direct, fast wingers who can beat defenders one-on-one. At Leicester, Abdul Fatawu and Stephy Mavididi combined for 37 goals and assists between them.

Keith Wyness has told Manchester City supporters not to worry about the City Group selling their stake in Yokohama F. Marinos. The former Everton chief executive believes it is simply a case of trimming the portfolio.

The City Group recently sold their 20 per cent holding in the Japanese club to Nissan, following the sale of Indian side Mumbai City last December. They now hold stakes in 12 clubs worldwide, including Palermo and Girona.

Speaking on Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Wyness was clear that there is no deeper meaning to the moves.

“There's no reason for concern at all. In terms of the Mumbai one, I spent some time over in India and saw the Mumbai set-up, and to be honest, Man City are best out of it.”

He pointed to the politics behind Japanese football as a possible factor in the Yokohama decision, but stressed the group remains sensible with its investments.

Smart pruning

Wyness described the sales as “understandable” and part of normal portfolio management rather than any wider shift in strategy.

“To me, it's portfolio management by the City Football Group, rather than anything else. I think it just makes sense; you can't keep on growing and growing. Sometimes you do have to prune back and look at new markets in different places.”

The group will maintain its connection with Yokohama even after the sale, something Wyness sees as a positive. He added that City have strong scouting networks in place in Japan and did not need to own the club to benefit from them.

“I've been watching it very closely, and it's been a fascinating experiment. It doesn't mean that there are any long-term issues in CFG; it just means occasionally some of the investments need to be re-looked at.”

Manchester City have made their position on Ruben Dias unambiguous after a recent report claimed Real Madrid had tested the waters over a potential move this summer.

City have apparently ‘firmly rejected’ enquiries from the Spanish giants regarding the centre-back, who has been a key figure under Pep Guardiola since arriving at the Etihad.

Dias joined City from Benfica in September 2020 on a six-year contract, with the club paying a fee of £65 million for his services. The 29-year-old has since become a cornerstone of the defence, and in August 2025 he signed a new four-year deal.

There has been no suggestion from the City end that they would entertain any offer for the Portuguese international.

Jack Grealish could be handed a lifeline at the Etihad. Reports suggest the club have reversed their stance on the £100 million signing after a request from new manager Enzo Maresca.

The 30-year-old spent last season on loan at Everton. That deal included a £50m option to buy, which has not been triggered.

Maresca's intervention appears to have altered the club's thinking. It is a sharp reversal from the position just a few months ago, when a departure looked inevitable.

Grealish will now get the opportunity to prove his worth under Maresca's stewardship.

Manchester City have won the race for Leicester City's teenage winger Jeremy Monga, hijacking a deal Arsenal had been pursuing for some time.

The 16-year-old has been one of the most sought-after young players in English football, with his performances for the League One side attracting attention from across the Premier League. Arsenal were considered favourites after lengthy discussions with the player's camp, but those talks ultimately failed to get over the line.

That opened the door for City, who moved swiftly to take advantage. According to Fabrizio Romano, the transfer is now all agreed between City, Leicester and the player's representatives.

The total package is understood to be worth £10 million — a substantial outlay for a player who has not yet turned 17, and a clear sign of how highly the club rates his potential within the City Football Academy structure.

What stands out is Enzo Maresca's direct involvement in the process. Romano reports the City manager was personally engaged in convincing Monga to choose the Etihad, a detail that underlines the Italian's hands-on approach to recruitment at every level — not just the first team.

For Arsenal, it's a frustrating end to what had been a long-running pursuit. For City, it's another statement of intent in a summer that has already seen significant investment at senior level.

Whether Monga can eventually force his way into Maresca's first-team plans remains to be seen, but at 16 and with a £10 million price tag, the expectations have been set high from the start.