Barcelona have been linked with a surprise January move for Manchester City defender Nicolas Otamendi.
The Catalan giants are keen to boost their defensive options in the winter window as Samuel Umtiti is sidelined with a knee injury and Otamendi has emerged as a target.
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The Argentine centre-half has started just eight Premier League games for the champions this season, and City boss Pep Guardiola concedes the 30-year-old is unhappy with his fringe role.
“When he plays he’s happy, when he doesn’t play he’s not happy, but not just Otamendi, everybody. All of them,” said the former Barca boss recently. “We would like to [keep him], but it depends on the players and the agents.”
It has been suggested City would be willing to listen to offers in the region of £35million for Otamendi, who moved to Manchester in a £28m deal from Valencia in 2015.
If the Etihad Stadium outfit do allow Otamendi to move to Camo Nou they could make a bid for Ajax’s Matthijs de Ligt in the winter window.
Guardiola stated he wasn’t planning on bringing anyone in during the January window earlier this month and City were expected to wait until the summer before launching a move for the Netherlands international but that could change if Otamendi departs.
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