Manchester City Rumoured to Make Bid for United Transfer Target Bruno Fernandes

Manchester City are reportedly ready to rival Manchester United in the chase for Sporting CP star Bruno Fernandes. 

According to Portuguese newspaper A Bola (h/t Lucas Sposito of Sport Witness), the Premier League champions will lodge a €50 million (£43 million) "formal offer" for the midfielder on Tuesday. 

Sporting's sporting director Hugo Viana is said to be flying to Manchester for talks regarding a possible move to City.

It's added that Pep Guardiola's team want to agree a deal with Sporting for Fernandes quickly so they can avoid "enormous competition" for him. The Premier League side are reported to be willing to pay €70 million (£60 million) to sign the player, with their local rivals and Paris Saint-Germain also said to be interested.

Sport Witness relayed how the story was covered by A Bola:

The interest in the 24-year-old is no surprise, as he has enjoyed another stellar campaign for the Lisbon club. 

Fernandes is technically outstanding, meaning he can dribble into dangerous areas with the ball, pick out team-mates in advanced areas and make key contributions himself.

Per football analyst Statman Dave, Fernandes has proved he can create and score goals:

City's interest in the midfielder is intriguing. While there's no doubting the quality the Sporting man possesses, Guardiola is not short of options to play in one of the two advanced midfield positions in his 4-3-3 setup.

This season, Bernardo Silva has excelled in that role, as well as on the right flank. In addition, the manager can call on Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Ilkay Gundgan and rising star Phil Foden, who have all excelled at times this season.

According to Oliver Kay of The Times, City intend to give the latter more game time next season in order to continue his development:

The arrival of someone like Fernandes would potentially hinder that progress. Additionally, City would surely be better served spending the money mentioned on an alternative to veteran Fernandinho.

However, Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe said he thinks Gundogan may be capable of stepping into the role after some assured performances in that area:

While Fernandes has sporadically been asked to play as the deepest midfielder for Sporting, he's at his best when given license to push into the final third. 

The Sporting star would surely be keen to work under a coach like Guardiola, who has proved himself to be an expert at advancing the game of technically gifted footballers.

Even so, barring some unexpected departures from City in the summer, it's tough to see exactly where the Portuguese would fit into the first-team picture at the Etihad Stadium.