Liverpool’s versatile midfielder, Emre Can, has surprisingly emerged as one of the players Manchester City are targeting to beef up their ranks. Can’s contract with the Reds is due to expire at the end of the season and thus, speculations are hovering over the future of the 24-year-old. At this stroke of the hour, the blue half of Manchester are believed to be very much in the race to sign him.
Can has been a subject of interest of Serie A giants, Juventus, as well and it was reported that they would leave no stone unturned to prise him out of Anfield. However, it is believed in some quarters that Can might fancy staying in the Premier League, thus, arguably landing the Citizens in the pole position to make him sign on the dotted line before the transfer window shuts down.
The Metro reported that Can’s preferred destination would be his former club, Bayern Munich, but the Bavarian giants haven’t been linked with him. And with Bayern Munich agreeing on a deal to sign Leon Goretzka in the summer, that door looks to be probably closed leaving Can to look for other available options.
Can, if his move to the Etihad Stadium materializes, would be more than a decent signing for Pep Guardiola. He emerged through the youth ranks of Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern Munich and was then promoted to the senior side of the latter. Having failed to cement his place with Bayern, he moved to Bayer Leverkusen and was eventually introduced to the Premier League by Liverpool in the summer of 2014.
He has been a solid player for Liverpool and has been pretty much omnipresent in Klopp’s tactical nous this season. In 18 appearances in the top flight, he has scored 1 goal and registered 3 assists apart from making 2.9 tackles, 1.3 interceptions, 1.4 clearances and 0.2 blocks per game on an average and has added real steel to the defensive aspects of his side.
Owing to the experience he has accumulated in the Premier League as well as the Champions League, Guardiola’s apparent interest to thrash out a deal to sign him makes sense. Besides, his versatility of operating as a central defender, central defensive midfielder as well as a central midfielder is something that must have appealed to the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager and thus, it would be really interesting to see whether something comes out of this extremely interesting development.
Statistics Credits: WhoScored