Man City chasing Barcelona star as Florian Wirtz alternative

Manchester City are interested in signing Barcelona midfielder Dani Olmo as they prepare to miss out on the signature of Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz, a report has claimed.

City are searching for some new midfield magic as they prepare to bid farewell to Kevin De Bruyne at the end of the season. Wirtz has long been touted as a dream target but the German international has been increasingly linked with Bayern Munich, forcing City to search elsewhere.

The list of alternative targets is a long one, with Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White and Eintracht Frankfurt's Hugo Larsson among those under consideration, but Relevo state it is Olmo who sits highest on City's wish list.

The City boss is thought to dream of luring Olmo to the Etihad Stadium this summer, making the Spain international his top midfield target, and it is even suggested that Olmo now sits higher than Wirtz on Guardiola's shortlist.

Barcelona paid €47m to sign Olmo from RB Leipzig last summer and have no desire to part ways with the 27-year-old, whose love of the club is a large part of the reason why he is still there in the face of the registration uncertainty.

That being said, City boast the finances to lodge an offer which Barcelona may be forced to consider. However, they are likely to demand a significant fee to part ways with a player who has been a regular starter under Hansi Flick.

Olmo is contracted to Barcelona until 2030, meaning the La Liga champions-elect are under no pressure to agree to a sale from that perspective. Much may depend on the final ruling over Olmo's registration, which has been sent back to the National Court as La Liga continue to argue that Barcelona do not have the finances required to play the midfielder.

READ THE LATEST TRANSFER NEWS & GOSSIP FROM AROUND THE WORLD