Italy international Manuel Locatelli ‘deserves’ a big summer move to Manchester City, Sassuolo CEO Giovanni Carnevali told Tuttosport, via Football Italia.
If AC Milan could roll back the clock, you’d imagine they would have second thoughts about cashing in on a midfield maestro who has blossomed into one of Serie A’s very best since being sold to Sassuolo in 2019.
According to the Mail, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side are looking to add even more star quality to their soon-to-be Premier League-winning squad, with the £30 million-rated Locatelli their number one summer target.
While perennial overachievers Sassuolo are hoping to keep a talented squad of players together, Carnevali would not stand in Locatelli’s way if he is given the chance to join one of Europe’s bona fide big-hitters.
“My hope is that it is a great club. Whether it’s Juventus or City or others of global value, I don’t know. He deserves it and has the characteristics to aspire to play there,” Carnevali admitted of the 6ft 1ins enforcer, who learned his trade at Milan before thriving at the Mapei Stadium.
Locatelli’s agent, Stefano Castelnuovo, told the Mail that his 23-year-old client ‘dreams’ of playing Champions League football.
City would give him the opportunity to do just that, all the while honing his play-making chops under a coach who turned Kevin de Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Fernandinho and co into genuinely world-class midfielders.
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