2025 has already been a year of big spending by Manchester City, but they’re only just getting started.
In January, as outlined by, the Sky Blues spent around £180m, which is more than the other 19 Premier League clubs combined, recruiting Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis, Omar Marmoush, Nico González and Juma Bah.
Now, as Pep Guardiola oversees a mass-squad overhaul, could Man City beat their Premier League rivals to the signature of one of the division’s most sought-after talents?
Manchester City seeking to sign Premier League star
So, with that winter overhaul complete, the attention now turns to the summer where more money will need to be spent in order to bridge the gap to Liverpool and Arsenal.
Transfer Focus
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Where will they begin? Well, as reported by Caught Offside, Man City are one of many Premier League clubs ‘eager to snap up’ Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze this summer, reportedly valued at £60m.
Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham are also ‘competing’ for his signature.
Eze’s goal at Craven Cottage on Saturday, a strike his manager Oliver Glasner hailed as “unbelievable”, took the 26-year-old’s tally to six goals, as well as nine assists, for the campaign, also opening his international account by scoring for England against Latvia at Wembley last Monday.
Now into his fifth season in South London, there are many rumours about Eze potentially leaving Palace this summer, so could he be on his way to Manchester City, potentially tasked with filling the void vacated by the club’s greatest-ever player?
How Eze compares to De Bruyne
Back in January, it was reported by the Athletic that San Diego FC, who have joined Major League Soccer as an expansion club this year, are very interested in signing Kevin De Bruyne on a free this summer.
Joe Lowery of Total Soccer Show meanwhile, believes this move is ‘increasingly likely to happen’, given that San Diego have kept a Designated Player roster spot available, while the Belgian also hasn’t signed a new contract in Manchester.
De Bruyne remained an unused substitute when the Citizens were dumped out of the Champions League by Real Madrid at the Bernabéu in February, something Sam Lee of the Athletic claims would’ve been ‘unthinkable’ not too long ago, with Richard Martin of Goal believing that the 33-year-old ‘has reached terminal decline’.
Considering De Bruyne is ‘the best playmaker to grace modern English football’, according to James Westwood of Goal, he’s going to be tough to replace, so let’s assess Eze’s credentials to do just that.
Appearances
52
60
Minutes
4,069
4,788
Goals
13
19
Assists
10
32
Chances created
106
210
Through-balls
16
45
Progressive carries
126
241
Shots on target %
32.3%
30.5%
Shot-creating actions
218
381
Pass completion %
75.6%
74.3%
Attempted take-ons
250
148
Touches per 90
61
85
Slightly unfairly to Eze, we’ve compared him to peak-De Bruyne, with 2019/20 and 2020/21 chosen, considering the Belgian equaled Thierry Henry’s record for most assists in a single Premier League season during the period analysed.
Nevertheless, across this season and last, Eze compares well to De Bruyne, even if the Belgian ranks higher for the overwhelming majority of statistics included.
In summary, De Bruyne is a world-class creator, while Eze is more of a dribbler, but the Englishman’s shot-creating actions, pass completion and chances-created statistics do suggest he would be a good fit.
Aged 26 and approaching his prime, Palace content creator Luke Weaser-Seychell believes Eze is capable of becoming “world-class” and he could reach that potential by joining a club like City.
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