Manchester City have a bid accepted for Eliaquim Mangala from FC Porto – but the player himself would rather join Chelsea.
Read more Chelsea rumours.
The future of FC Porto centre back Eliaquim Mangala is likely to be sorted in the near future, with reports suggesting that Manchester City have agreed a £32 million fee with the Portuguese club over the player’s transfer, but Mangala himself would prefer a move to Chelsea.
The report suggests that Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho makes a keen admirer of the France international, but whether the Blues are able to splash that sort of fee on another player after the big money arrivals of Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa remains to be seen.
Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini is sure to face an anxious wait over whether Chelsea choose to make a bid, with the Chilean suggested to consider Mangala as the idea long-term partner for Vincent Kompany at the heart of the City defence – a position that the club have struggled to fill adequately in recent seasons.
The 23 year-old defender is rated as one of the best young centre backs in Europe, despite having made relatively few appearances for his age at Belgian club Standard Liege and FC Porto.
Powerful and quick, he has the physical attributes necessary to play that role in the modern game, whilst he also has the positional sense to slot seamlessly into a top level club such as City or Chelsea.
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