RB Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann says he is ‘confident’ of signing Manchester City defender Angelino. The young left-back had a good loan stint with the club during the second half of the season.
Inside Futbol reports that the manager, who is the youngest coach to reach the Champions League semi-final at 33 added that he believes the player ‘wants’ the deal to go ahead.
This might be because Angelino thinks he can’t dislodge Benjamin Mendy as City’s first choice left back.
Why Leipzig really wants Angelino
Having impressed Leipzig during his loan stay with a number of assured displays in the left wing-back position, the Bundesliga side wants to sign him on a permanent deal.
One of such conviction was his eye-catching performances in the Champions League. He provided the match-winning assist for the team in knocking out Atletico Madrid out of the competition and secure the club’s first semi-finals. Athletico had knocked out defending champions Liverpool in the last 16.
According to the details of the loan agreement, Leipzig had an option to buy Angelino for around £25m, but it was not taken up. But judging from Nagelsmann’s comments, a deal remains possible.
‘I’m very confident that we can reach an agreement with Man City, now that both clubs are out of the Champions League. Angelino is a very interesting player for us and he wants to stay with us too’, the German manager said.
This is however in contrast to the reports that say Angelino is ready to fight for his place in the City squad. The left-back is also being linked to Barcelona. But he wouldn’t want to go to the Camp Nou and be deputy to Jordi Alba.
Man City might on the other hand wants to retain the defender. This is judging the issues they had with the position over the years. Since Gael Clichy and Aleksandar Kolarov left City, the noisy neighbours seem not to have gotten a good replacement for them.
The club was however delighted with Mendy who was a menace in the attack but got a cruciate ligament injury that put him on the sideline for a long spell.
Fabian Delph, who is now at Everton became an emergency left-back while Mendy recuperates. So, holding on to Angelino might mean the Spaniard wants to bolster his squad and have several options.
But if he does otherwise, Pepe Guardiol would have to answer a further question on his intention to bolster his options in the left-back position
