Manchester City reportedly identify a La Liga defender as a potential replacement for Kyle Walker, but they could face competition from two other Premier League clubs.
Manchester City are reportedly prepared to rival two Premier League clubs for Espanyol full-back Omar El Hilali.
Hugo Viana will be tasked with strengthening the Man City squad when he replaces Txiki Begiristain as the club’s director of football in the summer of 2025.
Viana, who will leave Sporting Lisbon for Man City, will hope to get the chance to work with Pep Guardiola, who is seemingly poised to extend his contract until 2026.
If Guardiola does sign a new deal, he and Viana will likely look at bolstering a number of areas of the squad, including the right side of defence.
Guardiola can currently call upon Rico Lewis and Kyle Walker as his main right-back options, but the latter has shown some signs that his levels may be dropping at the age of 34.
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Man City keeping tabs on El Hilali
With Walker set to turn 35 next May, Man City are seemingly on the lookout for a potential successor to the England international.
According to TBR Football, Man City are showing a ‘keen interest’ in El Hilali after identifying the Espanyol defender as a possible replacement for Walker.
The Citizens are believed to be keeping track of El Hilali’s progress as they weigh up whether to step up their interest next summer.
However, Man City are not the only club monitoring the Moroccan, with Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion keeping tabs on his performances in La Liga.
As per Mundo Deportivo, El Hilali has a €15m (£12.5m) release clause in his contract which is set to run until the summer of 2027.
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Who is Espanyol’s highly-rated defender?
El Hilali has supposedly caught Man City’s attention with his impressive performances for Espanyol this season.
The right-back, who can also fill in as a central defender, has been a regular fixture in Manolo Gonzalez‘s side this term, having started all 12 of Espanyol’s La Liga matches.
The 21-year-old defender has made a total of 63 competitive appearances since emerging from Espanyol’s academy system.
In regards to his international career, El Hilali has represented Morocco at Under-20 and Under-23 level, but he is still waiting to break into the senior setup.
El Hilali will next be in action after the international break when Espanyol take on fellow Catalan side Girona on November 23.
