Manchester City report: Bayern Munich target City forward – and could pay £100m

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland celebrates with teammates Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez after scoring the team's second goal during the Emirates FA Cup Quarter Final match between Manchester City and Burnley at Etihad Stadium on March 18, 2023 in Manchester, England.
(Image credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Manchester City are bracing themselves for a bid from Bayern Munich for one of their forwards.

The Premier League champions are still on course for a historic treble and dispatched Bayern Munich with ease en route to their second-ever Champions League final, beating them across two legs in the quarter-final. This is turning out to be a tough season for the Bavarians, too, with their last-eight exit compounded with a domestic wobble. 

While the champions of all of Europe's other big five leagues have been confirmed, Bayern – who have won the last 10 editions of the Bundesliga – are still in a title fight. To fix this, they are said to be targeting a new forward this summer, with one Manchester City star on the agenda. 

Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel reacts during his side's 3-1 loss to Mainz in April 2023.

Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel has struggled since arriving at the Allianz Arena (Image credit: Getty Images)

Reports from German outlet BILD say that Bayern are targeting City striker Julian Alvarez to boost their frontline this summer. The Argentine could finish the season with a domestic title, cup, European trophy and the World Cup, in what has been a breakout season for him.

Alvarez only moved from River Plate last year for under £20 million but has lit up European football both as a deputy to Erling Haaland and alongside him in the team. The 21-year-old has even signed a new contract this year to extend his time at the Etihad Stadium to 2028.

But as unlikely as a move away from English football seems just yet, City have a history of letting players who want to go leave should they want to – such as Gabriel Jesus, Leroy Sane and Ferran Torres in recent seasons. The Citizens could well make a healthy profit on the player, should they choose to part ways, too.

According to BILD journalist Christian Falk, Bayern are prepared to spend somewhere in the region of £100m this summer acquiring a new hitman – a departure from their usual transfer policy. 

CEO of Bayern, Oliver Kahn prior to the Bundesliga match between SV Werder Bremen and FC Bayern München at Wohninvest Weserstadion on May 06, 2023 in Bremen, Germany.

CEO of Bayern Oliver Kahn seems prepared to spend big improving his squad this summer (Image credit: Marvin Ibo Guengoer - GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)

The report also states that Die Roten are eyeing a move for Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot, who is out of contract at the end of this season.

Alvarez is valued by Transfermarkt to be worth around €50m. 

More Manchester City stories

With Erling Haaland breaking goal records a-plenty, Pep Guardiola said that Manchester City are monitoring the striker's fitness "24 hours a day".

Ilkay Gundogan is rumoured to be a major target for Barcelona this summer, while Guardiola has explained why major City stars are being subbed early. One Burnley star has told FFT that Vincent Kompany could manage the Citizens one day.

Mark White
Content Editor

Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.