Manchester City are readying a £20 million bid for Benfica left back Fabio Coentrao. City have been tracking the versatile Portugese international for quite some time now and have identified Coentrao as one of their prime targets for January. Coentrao is equally comfortable playing at left-back or left midfield and has many admirers across Europe including Real Madrid’s Jose Mourinho.
Roberto Mancini is yet to find his best defensive combination at City. Alexander Kolarov, Wayne Bridge, Pablo Zabaleta, Jerome Boateng and Joleon Lescott have played at left-back for City with little or no success this season. Coentrao’s signing could signal the end of the road at City at least for a couple of the above-mentioned players.
Inter Milan, AC Milan, Bayern Munich and Liverpool have all inquired about the the dynamic left-back in the past. With a deal that runs on till 2016, it will cost a fortune to nick the starlet off Benfica.
City’s bid for Coentrao could well hinge on them finding buyers for unsettled players such as Adebayor, Bridge, Lescott and Roque Santa Cruz. City are also in pole position to sign Wolfsburg’s Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko.
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