As they battle Liverpool and Arsenal for this season's Premier League title, Manchester City already have two deals in place for the 2024/25 season. They struck the first of those in January, paying £12.5m to sign 18-year-old midfielder Claudio Echeverri from River Plate.
Echeverri won't join City until January, but one player who should be with Pep Guardiola's side for pre-season is Savio after the reigning champions agreed a deal to sign him from City Football Group outfit Troyes. The Brazilian, on loan at Girona this season, attracted interest from other English clubs and teams in Germany, but City are now expected to finalise a move by the end of February, with documents already being drawn up.
It's since emerged that the Premier League will scrutinise the cross-network transfer to ensure that City have paid a fair free for the player's services. But in a move that's likely to anger rivals amid the ongoing controversy, City are already planning their next CFG transfer.
City now set sights on Marmol
According to Spanish outlet El Chiringuto and journalist Jose Alvarez, centre-back Mika Marmol at Los Palmas has now emerged as a target for the CFG ahead of the summer transfer window.
The plan is for Man City to sign him from the newly-promoted La Liga side and then loan him to Girona, who are competing for the Spanish top-flight title this season.
Marmol fits City profile to a tee
Who is Marmol? Well, the first thing to know is that he spent four years in the Barcelona youth system before leaving for FC Andorra in 2022 and then joining Las Palmas 12 months later.
This season, he's started 21 out of 23 games in La Liga and put up some eye-catching defensive numbers, including the ninth-highest challenge success rate (73.3%) and the fourth-highest number of clearances (102) in the division.
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However, what may really intrigue City is what he's been doing in possession. As you can see in the table below, he was one of the best ball-playing centre-halves in the Segunda Division last season, and he may be able to replicate these figures in a dominant elite side.
Pass completion
89.7%
7th
Passes into final third
265
2nd
Progressive passes
231
5th
Progressive carrying distance
9,455 yards
1st
Touches
3,790
1st
City already have a relationship with Las Palmas, having loaned Maximo Perrone to the island club, and they may hope that stands them in good stead when they knock on the door over Marmol. At the age of 22, he only may need one more season for Spain before he's ready to compete for a meaningful role at the Etihad Stadium.