Man City and Pep now ready to sell £25m star with Atletico Madrid in talks

Manchester City are preparing to sell a player Pep Guardiola recently hailed as “important” this summer, with talks over a move to Atletico Madrid already underway, according to a new report.

Manchester City drop points again against Brighton

Manchester City are struggling again, with Guardiola’s men now having won just two of their last six games in the Premier League.

Their most recent setback came at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend, with the two sides playing out a 2-2 draw at The Etihad.

The slip up means City, who are fifth, now just nine games left to try and qualify for next season’s Champions League. Miss out, and it will mark the first time the Sky Blues haven’t qualified for European football’s elite competition for the first time since the 2009/10 season.

“Nine games, nine finals. It looks like it [will go down to the last day],” Guardiola said after his side’s draw with Brighton. “Nine games still until the end of the season. We have tough games.”

Guardiola also expressed his sympathies for a number of his players who were not involved in the game.

“All the managers around the world, they make the decision,” he explained. “They select the XI it’s because they believe it’s going to win the game. I never found a manager, never ever, that selects 11 players and thinks they are going to lose.”

“Next game we will see who will play, the way we are going to play and with who we are going to play. I feel so sorry for all the players that don’t play. What can I say?”

Man City preparing to sell Kovacic

One player who wasn’t involved against Brighton was midfielder Mateo Kovacic.

The Croatian has often been used as a stand-in for the injured Rodri this term, with Guardiola recently hailing his role in the squad as “important,” but has been dropped to the bench in recent weeks, with January signing Nico González taking his place.

According to TEAMtalk, Man City have now cleared the way for Kovacic to leave the club at the end of the season, with talks about a return to Spain already underway.

The publication reports that the former Real Madrid man has been attracting interest from Atletico Madrid, with the club having already established contact with the player and initiated preliminary discussions with City through indirect channels.

The report states that City are open to selling Kovacic, who turns 31 in May, and would be willing to accept a fee of around €30 million (£25.2 million) for his services.

Atletico, meanwhile, are likely to have to part ways with some players of their own to facilitate Kovacic’s arrival in the summer.