Man City eyeing swoop for "unbelievable" £31.5m-rated "animal", Pep would love him - opinion

Manchester City have been linked with a swoop for Sporting CP midfielder Matheus Nunes.

According to a recent Twitter post from Jacque Talbot, City are one of the clubs “among the most interested” in securing a deal for the midfielder this summer alongside Paris Saint-Germain.

Back in the 2019 January transfer window, the 23-year-old joined Sporting’s U23 squad from fellow Portuguese side Estoril.

Since then, the Portugal international has made 131 appearances for his current club across their U23 and senior sides.

In those appearances, Nunes has found the net ten times and delivered 11 assists along the way.

With 33 league appearances to his name last season, only one other outfield player at Sporting racked up more minutes than the midfielder, highlighting how important he is to the team.

In those appearances, the £31.5m-rated figure made the joint-second highest number of interceptions (30) at his club as well as winning 25 tackles in total, suggesting that he’s not just about the attacking side of the game, but he also works hard and contributes from a defensive point of view.

To give more of an insight into what sort of player he is, Goncalo Santos, an ex-teammate of Nunes, had this to say about him: “It’s unbelievable when he has the ball at his feet. Nobody can catch him; it’s impossible because he’s too fast.”

Labelled as an “animal” by Paulo Futre, Nunes has already caught the attention of Pep Guardiola who described the midfielder as “one of the best players in the world today.”

This shows how much the City boss would love to have Nunes in his ranks heading into the new campaign.

The Citizens and the Sporting star came face to face back in February when the Manchester club travelled to Portugal and secured a