Sporting CP and Manchester City hatched joint-transfer plan for Argentina midfielder, player reveals | OneFootball

Manchester City had previously launched a transfer assault with Sporting CP for Argentina international Thiago Almada, the player himself has revealed.

The attacking midfielder is just one of many South American talents to have been pursued by Manchester City in recent years, many of which have approved approaches from the Etihad Stadium to take their careers into European football.

One of the most notable examples in recent years is the pathway taken by striker Julian Alvarez, who moved directly from River Plate to Manchester City in the summer of 2022, having agreed a deal six months earlier.

Having won everything available to him at club level, with the exception of the English League Cup, Alvarez took a new direction in his career last summer via a €90 million package deal to Atletico Madrid in Spain.

Other examples have included Gabriel Jesus’ move from Palmeiras to Pep Guardiola’s side in 2017 and Claudio Echeverri’s switch from River Plate – which was agreed in January 2024 but will be finalised with the player welcomed to the club in early 2025.

Now, speaking during a recent conversation with ESPN F90, Argentina international midfielder Thiago Almada has revealed that prior to his transfer to the United States and Atlanta in the MLS, he had received an offer from Manchester City that involving Sporting CP.

“I had an offer at (Manchester) City,” the now-23-year-old revealed, as translated and relayed by Sport Witness. “Vélez wanted me to renew because I had six months left on my contract.”

He continued, “They (Manchester City) sent the offer, and I was going to go to Sporting for six months on loan. But Vélez didn’t want to sell me for that money, and I renewed. I didn’t want to go free either. I stayed at Vélez. I wanted to do well.”

First media reports linking Manchester City with a public interest in Thiago Almada emerged in April 2019, with one claim being that the English giants were willing to spend £20 million to sign the then-18-year-old.

The plan at that point in time was reportedly for Manchester City to recruit Almada, before moving him on to Girona within the City Football Group to further develop his career in the European game.

A report from Argentine media just a few months later would also align itself with the comments made by Almada this week, with it claimed that the interest from City and Sporting CP was part of the partnership between the two clubs.

At the time of that particular report, it was claimed that City had made a €12 million proposal for then-Vélez Sarsfield starlet, who was claimed to have had a release clause in his contract worth around €25 million.