Manchester City completed the signing of Wolves midfielder Matheus Nunes for £53million on the final day of the window, but after seeing Cole Palmer head to Chelsea in a £42.5million move, they attempted to get a late big-money deal done
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Manchester City failed in an 11th hour £60million bid for Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze. __
City turned to the newly-capped England star on the final day before the transfer window slammed shut. Talks were at an advanced stage with both clubs and it’s believed the player would have loved the opportunity of linking up with Etihad boss Pep Guardiola.
But the Premier League champions were left frustrated after failing to push through the last gasp deal, with Palace refusing to budge from their £80million asking price.
Palace fans will be delighted after the club turned down a bid earlier in the window for another outstanding forward Michael Olise. Now it’s likely Eze will be rewarded with a new contract after remaining at Selhurst Park.
City elected to make the late move for Eze after selling Cole Palmer to Chelsea in a £42.5million deal. But when the £60m offer was rejected and Palace refused to lower their price tag - a similar story to two weeks ago when City initially turned to Eze before going for Portugal international Matheus Nunes from Wolves - City could do no more.
It didn’t do City any harm on Saturday as they put Fulham to the sword with a 5-1 win despite the absence of boss Guardiola, recovering in Barcelona from back surgery.
Erling Haaland scored a second half hat-trick and assistant boss Juanma Lillo said: “Erling was born to score goals - so it will be no surprise if he gets same figures as last season.
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“But it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t. He is also great at providing for other players and he gave one assist today.
“He has this importance to other players. It’s not just about scoring goals. I’m more impressed by other figures as well, not just if he ends up scoring. I always looked at his intelligence as well as his goal-scoring before he came here.”
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