Manchester City 'planning improved bid for Marc Cucurella'

Last week, the Premier League champions confirmed that they had allowed Oleksandr Zinchenko to link up with Arsenal in a £32m deal.

Although Joao Cancelo will almost certainly start the season at left-back and is a trusted member of the squad in that position, the Portuguese prefers to play on the opposite flank.

The money raised from the Zinchenko deal will now be put towards trying to sign a like-for-like replacement with City known to be interested in Cucurella.

Recent reports have suggested that City have only bid in the region of £30m for a player who Brighton value closer to the £50m mark.

That is a scenario which was not denied by manager Pep Guardiola when he was quizzed on the situation at a press conference during his team's tour of the United States.

Guardiola said: "We are in negotiations. If it doesn't happen, we have alternatives. [Joao] Cancelo, [Josh] Wilson-Esbrand is a young talent, [Nathan] Ake can play there."

However, according to Sport, City intend to put forward an improved offer over the coming days in a bid to resolve the situation.

The report adds, however, that City will not meet Brighton's current demands, something which means that the impasse in negotiations could be prolonged.

In his first season at the Amex Stadium, Cucurella made 35 appearances in the Premier League, contributing just one and one assist largely from a wing-back role.

Nevertheless, such was the level of his performances that he won the club's Player Of The Year accolade, acknowledgement that signing the Spaniard from Getafe for £15m had been money well spent.

However, the 24-year-old is now said to be eager to take his chance to represent the top-flight champions, rather than spend a second year with the Seagulls.

Brighton boss Graham Potter told reporters at the weekend: "He is happy. It's not easy because there's speculation, he's human and that's the challenge with footballers when the window is open, you get linked with this and that. It is what it is."

Potter has allegedly been targeting Arsenal's Nuno Tavares as a potential replacement, but the Portuguese is reportedly more likely to sign for Atalanta BC.