Exclusive: Two alternatives to Lucas Paqueta being explored by Man City

After the surprise news that West Ham’s want away star, Lucas Paqueta, is being investigated by the Football Association for potential betting rule breaches, Man City have turned their attentions elsewhere.

With less than two weeks to go until the closure of the summer transfer window, Pep Guardiola and his recruitment team need to work hard and fast in order to get deals over the line.

Given that the 2023/24 Premier League season is already well underway too, the need for there to be some dressing room stability is obvious.

The sooner that City can bring a player in to fill the void created by Kevin de Bruyne’s absence, the better.

‘City are going for a different player in that position because the Paqueta story is complicated, and let’s see if City will try to go for Dani Olmo,’ Fabrizio Romano wrote in his exclusive CaughtOffside Substack.

‘Their target had always been Lucas Paqueta but Dani Olmo has always been appreciated by some people on the board. At the moment, Leipzig insist on the player being untouchable but we’ll see if City will find some other solution and how they will react.

‘Jeremy Doku remains another target for Manchester City. They had discussions with Rennes and positive discussions on the player side, but before agreeing anything, they want to make sure that the situation is not going to be a big fight on the player side.’

On the face of it, the signing of Doku may be an easier one to achieve than prising Olmo from RB Leipzig, particularly after the Spaniard took Bayern Munich to the cleaners all on his own in the German Supercup.

Both players offer something a little different too, with Doku more of a winger and Olmo ostensibly a striker though one that does often play down the channel and comes inside.

Guardiola has shown time and again that he’s able to integrate players easily into his tactically astute XIs and, in the case of players like John Stones, move them into other untried positions and still get the best out of them.

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