Manchester City to chase Sporting CP forward as Hugo Viana armed with ‘significant’ transfer war-chest | OneFootball

The Etihad Stadium’s incoming sporting director Hugo Viana will reportedly be handed a major transfer budget for his first summer in charge at Manchester City.

The Premier League champions are preparing for a significant summer of change in 2025 as the club sees their long-standing and hugely successful director of football in Txiki Begiristain leave the club after 12 seasons.

The 60-year-old has been widely credited for building some of the best Manchester City sides ever seen in the European game, whilst recruiting the best talents and also ensuring that Pep Guardiola not only came to the club in the first place, but also reached a decade in charge.

However, all good things must come to an end, and having first eyed an exit five years ago only to extend his stay such was his enjoyment at working on the club’s project and alongside Guardiola, Begiristain will leave in 2025.

And having played a key role in sounding out and recruiting his successor in the role at the Etihad Stadium, Begiristain will also see his replacement handed the keys to a ‘significant’ budget in order to ensure that Manchester City’s success continues.

City will arm their incoming sporting director Hugo Viana with a ‘significant transfer war-chest’ in the summer of 2025, according to the Mirror’s Simon Mullock, in order to give Pep Guardiola the reinforcements he needs for his next two seasons at the club.

The Mirror also claim that Manchester United’s new manager in Ruben Amorim is set to battle it out with his close friend at City for the services of Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres, with Viana on the Sweden international’s trail for the Etihad Stadium first-team squad.

Aside from their forward line, Manchester City are likely to look to recruit in the central roles, and may begin that work in the January transfer window too, with Rodri’s injury and absence proving to be problematic for Pep Guardiola and his coaching staff.

A number of names have been mentioned in various media reports, whilst it is widely believed that Manchester City themselves have discussed two names behind-the-scenes in Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi, as well as Atalanta’s Ederson.

Contract situations also loom large for Viana and Begiristain over the coming weeks and months too, with Manchester City facing a long list of names including Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, and Erling Haaland whose contracts expire in consecutive seasons starting from 2025.