Everybody knows that when it comes to transfer dealings, Manchester City have a set way of doing things.
Over the past six years City's director of football Txiki Begeristain — the man in charge of the club's transfer business — has got more things right than he has wrong. A close friend of Pep Guardiola for many years, he and the Blues have earned a reputation of not taking any funny business when conducting negotiations with other clubs.
City will only make agreements on their terms, and if their terms or not met then they walk away — no matter who the player is. It's an admirable strategy that has seen them miss out on targets including Harry Kane, Harry Maguire, Jorginho and Alexis Sanchez over the years, but it is one that has worked out alright; City have won four of the last five Premier League titles, let's not forget.
READ MORE: Bernardo Silva represents Man City's greatest unknown heading into the new Premier League season
However, in the case of Marc Cucurella they might have got it wrong. Brighton are holding firm on their £50m valuation of the Spanish left-back, a not unreasonable sum given he has four years remaining on his contract, is only 23 and enjoyed a fantastic first season in English football last term. They know City need a left-back, so why not hold out for what they think he's worth?
City upped their initial £30m offer to £40m, but that was rejected by Brighton. The Blues say they will not bid any higher, even though the player is keen to link up with Guardiola.
Failure to sign Cucurella would represent a significant blow to City's title hopes in the sense that they would miss out on their prime target in a position they desperately need to strengthen in. Following the sale of Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal, Joao Cancelo is City's only senior option at left-back, backed up by an inexperienced and injury-prone Josh Wilson-Esbrand.
And it turns out that City might end up inadvertently strengthening a direct title rival. Their penny-pinching has opened the door for Chelsea to make a move for Cucurella, who has now reportedly agreed personal terms with Thomas Tuchel's side.
City gave Chelsea a helping hand by selling Raheem Sterling to them, but there was still a feeling that the London club would not be a serious title contender if they did not serious bolster their defensive options. Like City, left-back is an area of concern for Chelsea; now City have given them the opportunity to address that.
Cucurella seems like the perfect left-back for City; he is young, has bags of quality and potential, is Premier League proven and having come up through the ranks of Barcelona's La Masia academy and played under Graham Potter at Brighton, he is more attuned to Guardiola-style football than most other options out there.
By not paying up City are not only cutting off their nose to spite their face, but also helping a direct rival. It would be a severe double blow, but only time will tell how City recover.
ALSO READ:
