Manchester City is in dire need of defensive help and all that should be resolved soon. The Sky Blues are on the cusp of getting Ruben Dias of Benfica in a deal worth approximately $79 million outside add-ons.
Benfica had already announced on Sunday that they have reached an agreement with City. Also in a separate deal, Nicolas Otamendi will be moving to Estadio Sport Lisboa e Benfica worth roughly $17 million, Goal reported.
The deal has yet to be finalized with the two players yet to sign the contract. Otamendi is also undergoing a medical with the Portuguese club.
City has been keeping tabs of Dias the past two years, seen as the one who will replace Vincent Kompany. The Sky Blues need to address their defensive side, especially after their loss to Leicester, 5-2. They conceded five goals, the first time it has happened in the career of Pep Guardiola.
Dias has been a target by several teams, drawing attention since emerging from the Benfica academy ahead of the 2017-18 season. Once sealed, Dias will become the club’s record signing, assuming the extras are met. With his performance thus far, City is confident that their investment in him is worth it.
The 23-year-old capped his stint with Benfica, a 2-0 win over Morense. Benfica manager Jorge Jesus sounded as if he was wishing the Dias move to City is just a bad dream. He added that he takes part of the blame of Dias leaving Benfica, Sky Sports reported.
"He's a player we're sorry to see go, he came through the academy, is our captain and plays for the national team. I also take some of the blame for him leaving today,” Jesus said. "This is also to do with getting knocked out of the Champions League and there are things that need to be balanced (financially) at management level. He has a high market value and is certainly already a fantastic player who will continue to improve."
Before Dias, City was strongly linked to a possible move for Kalidou Koulibaly of SSC Napoli. Unfortunately, the Sky Blues were unable to meet the asking price of the club and no formal bid was made for the Senegal defender.
Aside from Koulibaly, two other names that were linked to City include Jules Kounde of Sevilla and Jose Gimenez of Atletico Madrid. But with the agreement on Dias, interest in other players may have just concluded.
