Man City 'open to bids' for 25-year-old after Ilkay Gundogan return

One year after his emotional exit from the Etihad, Gundogan quickly called time on his Barcelona spell to rejoin the Premier League champions on a short-term deal.

The 33-year-old is now providing cover and competition for the likes of Rodri, Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne in the middle and made his second debut for the club in their 4-1 thrashing of Ipswich Town on Saturday.

While Gundogan enjoyed a 20-minute run-out at the Etihad, the more youthful Nunes was only brought on for the dying embers of the match, and the 25-year-old has failed to kick on at Man City since leaving Wolverhampton Wanderers.

According to Football Insider, the Citizens are prepared to let Nunes leave either on loan or permanently in the final knockings of the summer transfer window, as Gundogan's return has made him surplus to requirements.

Man City to accept financial loss on Nunes?

Man City will apparently entertain offers of at least £40m for the Portugal international, meaning that they are willing to make a slight loss on the £53m they paid to bring him to the club last year.

Nunes still has four years left to run on his deal with Pep Guardiola's side, whom he has made 31 appearances for over the past 12 months, registering five assists in that time.

The former Sporting Lisbon man has failed to find the back of the net in City colours, though, and there is a consensus that he has not lived up to his potential in Manchester.

Nunes made the starting lineup for Man City on just seven occasions in the 2023-24 Premier League season, as well as being overlooked for minutes in the FA Cup beyond the quarter-finals.

Nunes experienced slightly better fortunes in the Champions League, where he started five matches, but he was an unused substitute throughout their quarter-final battle with Real Madrid.

Could Liverpool reignite interest in Nunes?

Even before Nunes made his first foray into English football with Wolves in 2022, the red carpet was being rolled out for the 25-year-old to join Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool, who were tracking him heavily during his Sporting days.

A switch to Molineux in 2022 was expected to eventually precede a big-money transfer to Anfield, where he would seemingly fill the Fabinho role for years to come, and that highly-anticipated move could now be back on.

Liverpool have coincidentally been searching for a midfielder of Nunes's profile all summer long, having made a concerted attempt to sign Real Sociedad's Martin Zubimendi only for the Spaniard to snub a move to Anfield.

As a result, Arne Slot has placed his faith in Ryan Gravenberch in the number six role for the time being, with Wataru Endo providing backup, but the latter's long-term future has been called into question.

Gravenberch has impressed as Liverpool's deepest-lying midfielder so far this season, but it will be fascinating to see whether the Reds pursue a late move for Nunes before the August 30 deadline.