Man City join race for France midfielder as Wharton and Fernandez deals hit blockades

Manchester City are now lining up a new midfield target following bad news on their pursuits of Chelsea star Enzo Fernandez and Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton.

With Rodri exiting the Etihad Stadium and signing for FC Barcelona, Man City need to sign a new central midfielder.

David Ornstein has revealed City have made an approach for Adam Wharton, but it has been knocked back. The Eagles have no intention of selling the England midfielder this summer, especially so late in the window.

Meanwhile, super agent Jorge Mendes is trying to smooth out a deal for Fernandez, but City remain reluctant to pay the huge asking price of £120m, and did not bid for Chelsea’s reported deadline last week.

As such, they have started looking at other options, and AS Roma midfielder Manu Kone has now emerged as a target. The France international agreed personal terms with Manchester United earlier this summer, and is expected to move on from the Serie A club even after United switched their focus to Carlos Baleba.

Kone could be the perfect Rodri replacement

The 25-year-old is comfortable in possession of the ball, as evidenced by the fact he maintained a pass-completion rate of 90.4% across the 2025-26 Serie A season, averaging 45.3 successful passes per 90.

Como scout Ben Mattinson has also praised the central midfielder for his ability to dictate games and advance the ball further forward, saying last year: “Manu Koné for only €18m was one of the deals of the summer. So composed and press resistant, tempo setter with game-breaking ball carrying.”

As such, the Frenchman, who is often deployed in a defensive midfield role, could be actually more of a like-for-like replacement for Rodri than Wharton and Fernandez, and The Daily Mail report AS Roma’s asking price is expected to be around £51m.

Tijjani Reijnders’ departure to Al-Qadsiash has exacerbated the need for City to sign another midfielder even further, and they will need to add at least one more experienced option alongside Ayyoub Bouaddi, who is expected to sign on the dotted line in the coming days.

With Fernandez’s value likely to be close to a Premier League record, and Wharton under contract until 2029 at a club who have no intention of selling, a move for Kone is the cheapest option on the reigning FA Cup and EFL Cup winners’ list of targets, especially if they have already splashed out big for Bouaddi.

Last week, Fabrizio Romano revealed Manchester City are on the verge of signing the Moroccan youngster, with the transfer expert saying: “City are prepared to make the player happy by bringing him to the club now, this summer, 2026, instead of the initial plan when they started this negotiation to let him stay one more season at Lille.

“Man City want Bouaddi now and Bouaddi wants to go to Man City now, so that’s the plan. Now City are in very advanced negotiations to get Bouaddi to the club immediately, so the deal is reaching its final stages.”