Man City signing ‘unhappy’ Man Utd star, Haaland replacement less likely than Viana sealing Spurs transfer

2025 is set to be a huge year for Manchester City. Even if they win their FFP case and avoid expulsion from the Premier League, they could still lose Pep Guardiola, who has ominously entered the final year of his current contract.

Guardiola’s close confidant – City director of football Txiki Begiristain – has already confirmed he’s heading for the exit door and the head coach could follow his compatriot in departing as he reportedly already has a likely ‘new destination’. 

With Man City since 2012, Begiristain has played a vital role in the club’s ascent to English football domination. He also may have had in the Premier League champions allegedly breaking a fair few FFP rules along the way, but – much like Guardiola – his exit would always leave a huge void and replacing him would be mightily difficult.

A carefully considered succession plan appears to be in place at the Etihad as it’s already been ‘confirmed’ that Hugo Viana is leaving his role at Sporting Lisbon to replace Begiristain.

Viana’s immense recruitment contributed to Sporting becoming Liga Portugal champions last season, so Man City – to the inevitable irritation of their rivals – appear to be in good hands.

We have already listed Viana’s best Sporting Lisbon signings, but which of his top five are most likely to join him at Man City? Starting from the least feasible transfer, here’s our ranking…

5) Manuel Ugarte (Manchester United)
Man Utd’s seemingly fruitful summer transfer window promised a lot heading into this campaign, but they remain just as sh*t post-Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s takeover as manager Erik ten Hag is leaping his way towards a presumably pricey severance package.

Ugarte was one of their most expensive summer additions at an initial £42m, but Casemiro’s supposed long-term replacement has had a rough start as a benchwarmer, while Man Utd ‘fool’ Christian Eriksen has unexpectedly been afforded loads of game time.

Spanish media have jumped the gun to suggest a ‘regretful’ Ugarte is ‘unhappy’ at Man Utd and could be eyeing an early exit.

With the Uruguay international only in his second month as a Man Utd player, this reactive report is premature as he’s still likely to end up as a long-term starter alongside Kobbie Mainoo. As for Man City, they will be looking far away from their arch-rivals for their signings in upcoming transfer windows as they are streets of their floundering neighbours in pretty much every department.

READ: Rice, Ederson have been Arsenal, Man City’s worst players in the 2024/25 Premier League

4) Pedro Goncalves (Sporting Lisbon)
Once dubbed the next Bruno Fernandes, former Wolves starlet Goncalves has increasingly become known as a winger in recent seasons and has performed superbly for the Portuguese champions, while his compatriot has been one of this season’s major disappointments in the Premier League. 

26-year-old Goncalves has outdone himself at the start of this campaign, grabbing five goals and five assists in his seven appearances.

Goncalves’ ability to play in various midfield positions could appeal to Man City, but they are unlikely to be his next destination as they are already pretty well stocked in the wing department and will be boosted further when Oscar Bobb eventually returns from injury.

Instead, he could move to a Big Six rival (Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur were linked with him last year) and his rapid progression at Sporting means he’s one of eight players starring abroad who deserves another shot in the Premier League. 

3) Ousmane Diomande (Sporting Lisbon)
One of many takeaways from Guardiola’s illustrious reign at the Etihad is that the Man City manager bloody loves a centre-back, with his admiration for players in this position getting to the extreme stage where he’s been known to bin off full-backs completely and use middlemen across the back four. He’s a maverick like that.

Guardiola has spent hundreds of millions of Man City’s money to acquire some of the world’s best centre-backs, but you’d still be foolish to rule out them signing another.

20-year-old Diomande is one of several immense talents who were plucked from obscurity by Viana and given a nurturing home to shine at Sporting. Less than two years after his £10m move from Midtjylland, he is in line for a Premier League transfer for over £65m as Man City face potential competition from three Premier League rivals.

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2) Viktor Gyokeres (Sporting Lisbon)
As this site’s resident Championship nerd, I have watched on with immense pride as former Coventry City standout Gyokeres has moved clear of Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe as this year’s current top scorer in Europe.

Like Diomande, £15m Gyokeres quickly proved himself to be a huge bargain as he’s scored a frankly silly amount of goals since the start of last season (55 in 61 games, for those wondering).

Naturally, Gyokeres’ immense form has not gone unnoticed as Arsenal and Chelsea were regularly mooted as possible destinations in the summer. However, Man City are said to be appearing on the scene as the Sweden international is their ‘chosen’ replacement’ for Haaland, who is definitely not going to sign for Barcelona.

Barcelona’s seemingly unrelenting financial woes could prevent Man City from losing Haaland next year. But when the striker does eventually leave, Gyokeres should be near the top of their replacement list and barring Premier League expulsion, they could blow most clubs out of the water to secure his signature.

READ: Man Utd spared bottom spot in ranking of Premier League clubs by summer 2024 transfers

1) Pedro Porro (Tottenham Hotspur)
Man City do not get much wrong in the transfer market, but the sale of Cole Palmer was foolish and the same can be said for their decision to let Porro out of their grasp in 2022.

Sporting benefitted from Man City’s verdict. The talented right-back’s two-and-a-half great seasons in Portugal earned him a move to Tottenham Hotspur.

Spurs’ frustrating start to the new season leaves Ange Postecoglou at risk of the sack, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that the 25-year-old is destined for big things and the North London club could soon be in his rearview mirror.

Porro currently finds himself in our 2024/25 Premier League team of the season and Man City reportedly have their eye on him as a long-term replacement for Kyle Walker. Unlike the other possible deals on this list, it feels inevitable that this one will happen in the next year or two.