Manchester City 'to intensify Marc Cucurella pursuit if Oleksandr Zinchenko joins Arsenal'

The Citizens have already allowed forward Gabriel Jesus to join the North London club for a fee of around £45m, but a recent report claims that Mikel Arteta's side have now open talks over a deal for Zinchenko.

The 25-year-old struggled for regular game time under Pep Guardiola last season, starting only 10 times in the Premier League, and both the Ukrainian and City are believed to be open to parting ways this summer.

Arsenal also hold an interest in Anderlecht's Sergio Gomez, but if they agree a deal with City to sign their preferred target Zinchenko, this would see the Premier League champions step up their interest for Cucurella, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.

Romano adds that City are "still targeting" the 23-year-old despite a lack of progress in recent weeks, and talks with the player will enter "important stages" should Zinchenko move to the Emirates Stadium.

Following the arrivals of Erling Braut Haaland, Kalvin Phillips, Stefan Ortega and Julian Alvarez, Guardiola has identified fellow Catalan Cucurella as his top target for the remainder of the summer window.

The left-back only arrived at Brighton last summer from Getafe for around £15.4m and he still has four years remaining on his contract at the Amex Stadium.

However, an impressive first season in England for the Seagulls - which saw him make 39 across all competitions and win the club's Player of the Year award - has caught the eye of the Citizens.

City seemingly had no issues with swiftly pursuing Haaland, Phillips and Ortega this summer, but their long-drawn attempts to recruit Cucurella are yet to reach an advanced stage.

According to 90min, the Citizens are unwilling to offer in excess of £50m for the Spaniard which is currently the minimum Brighton are prepared to accept.

The Seagulls remain hopeful of keeping hold of Cucurella this summer and they are currently in negotiations with the left-back over a new and improved contract.

Brighton chairman Tony Bloom insisted last week that the club are yet to receive any bids for Cucurella, but he did suggest that they would not stand in the player's way if they received a suitable offer from an interested club.

Speaking to reporters, via The Athletic, Bloom said: "Marc is a tremendous player, a tremendous person. He's brilliant for the dressing room.

"He was unbelievably good last season, his first season in the Premier League. We're hoping for more to come and we haven't had a bid for him.

"We've got to be realistic if a certain bid comes in and the player wants to move, the player will move, but we are not anticipating, we're not looking for our best players to move on.

"If it happens and we get a bid then we have to consider it, but until that point, we carry on."

Cucurella sparked speculation over a potential move to City at the end of last month when he liked an Instagram post from Fabrizio Romano confirming Phillips's agreement to join the top-flight champions.