Nightmare for Slot as Man City blitz Liverpool for top target as £85m De Bruyne replacement

Liverpool manager Arne Slot could find himself beaten to the signing of a player already being billed as his dream signing, with Manchester City set to also have identified West Ham star Mohammed Kudus and with the player having named a Cityzens star as a player he would most love to play alongside.

Slot has this week been settling into his office at the Liverpool training complex in Kirkby as a new era gets underway on Merseyside. Stepping into the sizeable shoes of Jurgen Klopp, the Dutchman will hope to build on the rich legacy his predecessor left behind.

With money to spend, we understand Slot has identified two priority positions in which to strengthen this summer, with a new left-sided centre-half and a holding midfielder to properly replace the summer 2023 departure of Fabinho top of his wishlist.

To that end, reports on Saturday have revealed the Merseysiders are vying to sign a top Man Utd target in Manuel Ugarte, with the PSG star’s agent name-dropping Liverpool in a big admission on his client’s future.

However, Slot will also look to sign a new goalkeeper with Adrian on the cusp of finalising a move back to his first club, Real Betis and with Caiomhin Kelleher also intent on forcing through a move away.

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And a new dimension could also be added to the Reds attack, with question marks still surrounding the future of Mo Salah and amid claims they are looking around at a number of would-be replacements.

But just as Liverpool could beat United to Ugarte, the Reds could find the boot is on the other foot when it comes to their reported interest in West Ham star Kudus.

Man City target move for Kudus as West Ham set their price

That’s amid reports that Manchester City have positioned themselves right at the front of the queue to sign the Ghanaian this summer as they seek a long-term replacement for legendary star Kevin de Bruyne.

The talismanic Belgium playmaker turned 33 on Friday and, with just a year left on his deal, has reached a major career crossroads at the Etihad.

De Bruyne has been strongly linked with a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia and the experienced star has admitted he would be “open to anything” as he considers where next his career will take him.

Now strong reports claim Pep Guardiola has decided that the time is right to sell the six-times Premier League title winner with a giant offer from Saudi helping to fund a City swoop for their preferred replacement.

And while the likes of Dani Olmo and Florian Wirtz have been pencilled in as targets, Guardiola is now reported to have earmarked West Ham star Kudus as his preferred option to step into De Bruyne’s shoes.

Such a deal, however, would not come cheap and it’s reported that the Hammers would not take anything less than the €100m (£84.8m) exit clause in his contract.

Signing from Ajax for a fee of just £39.5m last summer, Kudus quickly proved his class in the Premier League and in the Europa League by scoring 18 times and adding another seven assists from 48 appearances in all competitions.

Kudus names Man City star as his favourite Premier League player

Whether City look to spend that much on any one player this summer remains to be seen.

However, they have been given a further incentive to sign the 34-times Ghana international by the player himself, with Kudus having named Erling Haaland as a dream striker in a fantasy world XI.

He told West Ham’s YouTube channel: “As a striker, you want to put the ball in the net, he has that quality so I’ll go for him. Strong, fast, worries defenders and scores goals so I’ll go for Haaland.”

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Haaland’s telepathic understanding with De Bruyne has been a common theme at the Etihad since the Norwegian’s arrival two summers ago, with the Belgian teeing up his teammate 16 times in the Premier League so far – only three behind Sergio Aguero.

De Bruyne has a whopping 162 assists across all competitions since signing for City, 111 of which have come in the Premier League, putting him second behind Ryan Giggs on the all-time list.

And while it would be a huge loss for City and enormous shoes for a player to fill, it’s suggested that Kudus is now the name right at the top of Guardiola’s wanted list as he ponders life after the talismanic star, who will go down as an all-time Premier League great.