Tino Livramento to Man City: Pep Guardiola’s side may “struggle” to sign Newcastle right-back as three alternatives emerge

Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany believes that the Citizens may “struggle” to agree a deal with Newcastle United to sign right-back Tino Livramento this summer.

The 24-year-old is believed to have been identified as Man City’s top right-back target by new sporting director Hugo Viana, who is on the lookout to replace 34-year-old Kyle Walker ahead of his expected departure from the club.

It has recently been reported that talks between Man City and Newcastle over a deal for Livramento have been put on stand-by, with the Magpies currently reluctant to lower their asking price of around £70m.

Eddie Howe and Newcastle are said to have no interest in selling Livramento and it would take an ‘astronomical’ offer for the Magpies to even entertain letting the England international, who has three years remaining on his contract, leave St James’ Park this summer.

McInerney believes that Livramento would be an astute signing for Man City, but bearing in mind that the Citizens have already wrapped up deals for Rayan Ait-Nouri, Marcus Bettinelli, Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders, he has questioned whether Guardiola’s side would be open to meeting Newcastle’s asking price and forking out a significant fee on a new right-back.

Speaking to Sports Mole, McInerney said: “The rumours are that we're looking at north of £70m, £75m £80m for him. The caveat is that City have had an absurd amount of value in their signings so far. £115m for Cherki, Ait-Nouri and Reijinders - I would have expected £150m to £160m for that level of quality.

“It gives City headroom then to invest... if you get extraordinary bargains, you can probably then pay an extraordinary fee for someone else if you need to.

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“An awful lot of money” needed to sign “one of the best one-on-one defenders”

“It's not a coincidence that City are going for [Livramento]. He fits the profile of City in many ways. City need homegrown players, they need to fulfil the homegrown quota. Livramento is one of the most talented young footballers in the country. Definitely one of the most talented right-backs and he’s English.

“It's an awful lot of money... paying £75m, £80m for a right-back who, let's be honest, is not exactly the most attacking full-back in the world. He's a very balanced full-back, but you're not signing a Dani Alves who’d get 15 assists a season or someone like that who’s going to contribute all over the pitch.

“We signed Kyle Walker the best part of a decade ago for £50m. Obviously he was a bit more advanced than Livramento is now. He was in the PFA Team of the Year at the time and he was playing for Spurs as one of the best full-backs in the country. But he allowed City to have balance down that right side defensively.

“Livramento is a cracking full-back defensively. He's one of the best one-on-one defenders in the country as well. Maybe not quite as electrically fast as Kyle Walker, but Walker allowed us to play a certain way tactically that Livramento arguably would too.

“If you're going to have Ait-Nouri overlapping on one side, you could argue that potentially you need someone who's a bit more defensively solid on the other. Although Livramento can get forward, he's definitely much more suitable for locking down a side compared to Ait-Nouri that way.

“Presuming he starts from Manchester City for the best part of a decade, it becomes a decent signing, decent value, not good value but it makes a lot of sense.

“I think it's going to be hard (to sign Livramento). I think we've seen this with [Morgan] Gibbs-White as well. I think Gibbs-White has gone very quiet because there's rumours that City feels he’s a bit overvalued.

“It'll definitely unfold after the Club World Cup either way, but I've got a feeling this might be one that City struggle to get done. I think [Newcastle are] going to ask for an absurd fee and I don't know if it suits City right now to go for an £80m pound right-back.

“There could be the logic about we've saved £30m, £40m, £50m elsewhere on signings. Ait-Nouri for example for only £33m pounds allegedly - that's ridiculous. That's a £55m player in 2025 and we’ve saved £20m on him there, so maybe there's the headroom there.

“I'd like him as a City player. I think he's got incredible lungs, great energy. We saw him lock [Mohamed] Salah down in the Carabao Cup final. He can play on the left as well, obviously right-footed but versatile, has good pace, defensively really solid, he can get forward even if he's not fully known for it and I would love him at City.

“But I've got to be realistic here. I think this might be one of those ones that City inquire about but eventually pull out of.”

Could Man City target Munoz, Aina, Wesley as Livramento alternatives?

McInerney has suggested that Crystal Palace’s Daniel Munoz could be considered as a "short-term" alternative, while he has also talked up the possibility of City pursuing a deal for either Flamengo’s Wesley or Nottingham Forest’s Ola Aina, the latter of whom is set to see his current contract expire at the end of this month.

“The links are quiet,” he added. “We've been linked with Wesley from Flamengo. Obviously he doesn't fulfil the homegrown quota... but if we were to sign him, it’s because City have filled the homegrown quota in a different way, or have adjusted it.

“Wesley seems to be an attacking full-back. Raw but lots of ability. Quite [Matheus] Nunes-esque in terms of a lot of running power, he can get forward and so on. But I think there is a bit of a paucity of quality right-backs, especially homegrown ones around.

“I know he’s not homegrown, but I quite like the Crystal Palace full-back Munoz. I know he's more of an attacking right wing-back, but I think you could get him for £30m because of his age, 28 years old. He'd be a short-term solution.

‘I would take Aina in a heartbeat’

“Ola Aina, I would take him in a heartbeat. On a free transfer, homegrown as well, very risk free. He’s a really solid, complete full-back, he allows someone like Livramento to become available in a couple of years from now.

“You'd get a lot of consistency out of him and he's proven with Forest this year that he can compete for a side challenging at the high level. I'm not going to say he's going to be world-class, but I think he's a lot better than people give him credit for.

“I would take him and he fits the quota. I don't think there's been any recent rumours around him, but he's the kind of guy I can definitely imagine City keeping an eye on, as a temporary solution for a year or two.

“We know that City, in their own words, have an option one and option two, and I think we've probably heard option one and two so far with Livramento and Wesley.”

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Written by
Oliver Thomas