What Man City said about Cristiano Ronaldo transfer trick on Manchester United in January

As one of the greatest managers of all-time at the helm of one of the richest clubs in the world, Pep Guardiola isn’t exactly accustomed to transfer market disappointment.

Say what you will about Daniel Levy, but his refusal to allow Harry Kane to move to City last summer and the relentless bickering it caused kept us all entertained for weeks – plus, the fact his £150m man had to wait until a week before Christmas to score only his second Premier League goal of the season is just a bit funny.

With the dressing room locker previously owned by Sergio Aguero still vacant heading into the final weeks of the summer transfer window, rumours began to surface of Guardiola preparing to instigate the sort of jaw-dropping, scandalous storyline usually reserved for Hollywood blockbusters.

Forget Sol Campbell to Arsenal, Ashley Cole to Chelsea or even Figo to Real Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo, the darling of the red side of Manchester, the golden boy of Old Trafford, signing for Manchester United’s cross-town rivals would have topped the lot.

Obviously we all know how the story ended, with United swooping in to save their hero from the clutches of the enemy. And yet, when the dust had settled and we looked back on the whole saga, it didn’t really make a lot of sense.

Guardiola very nearly did the unthinkable at City by deeming club legend Aguero surplus to requirements, with simply scoring goals not enough to demand a regular place in the City boss’ starting XI.

So why on earth would he sign Ronaldo? After all, scoring goals is his job. Don’t expect him to be able to fill a pint glass when he wrings his shirt after a game.

All sorts of theories were bandied about as to why City were ever interested in signing Ronaldo, with some City fans even taking pleasure in telling their rivals they’d feigned interest in a player purely because they knew United wouldn’t be able to resist flexing their pulling power and stealing him from under their nose.

You’d be well within your rights to suggest such childish games have no place at elite-level football clubs, but you also may be very wrong.

The two Manchester clubs have been credited with a mutual interest in countless players over the past decade or so.

Ronaldo is just the latest in a long list of United ‘triumphs’ over their neighbours in the transfer market, with Robin van Persie, Fred, Alexis Sanchez and Harry Maguire just a few of the players to belong in such a category.

Who’s up next?

You’re probably now worrying that the January transfer window is just a few days away and we’ve yet to find out which player the two clubs will be fighting over for the next month, aren’t you? Well, fear not.

City’s pursuit of a striker has seen them regularly tipped with a move for Fiorentina’s Dusan Vlahovic, so naturally United are now after him too.

A quick glance at the Serbian striker’s goal record would have you believe there’s every possibility this is a player the two clubs genuinely both want, but there are plenty of other factors to consider.

Vlahovic’s haul of 37 goals in 57 Serie A games since the start of the 2020/21 campaign is absurd for someone so young. However, 11 of said goals have come from the penalty spot.

Don’t get me wrong, you’ve still got to score them, but 26 goals in 57 games without those penalties perhaps isn’t quite the kind of strike rate befitting of one of the most sought-after strikers in Europe.

Then there’s Vlahovic’s build-up play. Throughout the entirety of the 2020/21 season, the youngster mustered a paltry two assists in 40 games in all competitions.

Given Guardiola was desperate for Aguero to have a bigger influence on his team’s play than just being the man who stood between the posts and put the ball in the net, his sudden ‘interest’ in Vlahovic may not quite be as it seems.

Of course, there’s also the point to consider that the 21-year-old’s only ever appearance in European competition at club level was in the Europa League second qualifying round in 2016/17 – Guardiola is the absolute don when it comes to developing players and helping them reach their full potential, but Vlahovic has a long way to go before he’s competing at the very top level.

It would be wrong of us to suggest that Vlahovic isn’t a talented player – he evidently is – but then so was Aguero and he had to make some big changes to his game to fit into the Guardiola regime.

Fiorentina will no doubt generate a lot of cash from the sale of the Serbia international, but whether or not it will be City who sign him remains to be seen.

Or Guardiola could have absolutely no interest in signing him at all and he could be just baiting United into making an overpriced move for him in January… surely he wouldn’t? Would he?

Do you think City really want Vlahovic? Follow City Is Ours content editor Ross Jackson on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.