Manchester City 'join Giorgio Scalvini race'

The Atalanta BC defender has been a revelation since breaking into La Dea's first team as a 17-year-old, and his ascent has been rapid, with Scalvini already a regular in the Italy national team.

Scalvini was handed his club debut by Gian Piero Gasperini against Udinese in October 2021, and he has kept his place in the side ever since.

Despite his tender age, the 19-year-old has edged more experienced squad members such as Jose Luis Palomino and Rafael Toloi out of the side of late.

TuttoMercato claims that Man City are keen on the player, but they will have to fend off interest from some of Europe's biggest clubs.

In his native Italy, Scalvini is believed to be of interest to both Juventus and Inter Milan, as well as French champions Paris Saint-Germain.

Pep Guardiola spent over £200m in the summer, much of which went on another highly-rated young centre-back in the form of Josko Gvardiol.

Jeremy Doku, Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes also arrived at the Etihad over the summer, but the Premier League champions could be set to add to their squad even further.

What could favour City in the race for the youngster are comments Scalvini made recently, where he stated his desire to play in the Premier League.

Scalvini told Corriere dello Sport: "For me it's the best league there is, for the intensity, once in my career, I don't even know when, I'd like to play there."

With seven Italy caps already to his name, Scalvini is reportedly currently available for £45m, but Atalanta could hold out for more should the player feature for Italy in next summer's European Championships, if they get there.

The report states that Scalvini was Man City's backup option if a move for Gvardiol fell through, but even though they got a deal for the Croatian defender done, City are set to make a move for the player.

Inter Milan did submit an offer for Scalvini over the summer, according to TuttoMercato, but a fee of €35m (£30.5m) plus bonuses was rejected, before the Nerazzurri opted to sign Benjamin Pavard.

Scalvini has started all but one of Atalanta's games this season, and is set to feature for La Dea in their clash with Genoa on Sunday.