Ahead of the opening of the 2026 transfer window, Manchester City and Chelsea are targeting a promising defensive midfielder who is already being compared to Rodri.
The 2024 Ballon d'Or winner Rodri has never rediscovered his 2023-24 form, when he was an indispensable part of Manchester City and the Spanish national team. The 29-year-old defensive midfielder suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in September 2024. Since then, he has never appeared to be back to 100% physically.
Indeed, this season he has again experienced knee and hamstring problems in particular. As a result, Manchester City, who are uncertain about his situation, are forced to think about his replacement in the medium or long term. According to TeamTalk, the Sky Blues have already found the ideal profile in Aleksandar Pavlovic.
Chelsea and Manchester City battle for Pavlovic
The Bayern Munich midfielder is being closely monitored by Manchester City's scouts. They believe he could be the player who comes closest to Rodri. At 21, he is already a key player for Vincent Kompany and continues to improve. As such, Pavlovic “is one of the names that excites their scouts and analytics department” at the English giants.
However, nothing indicates or suggests that the Germany international is considering leaving Bayern Munich, given that he is becoming increasingly important and remains under contract until June 2029. Furthermore, Manchester City are not alone in this pursuit, as Chelsea are also very interested in the Bavarian's profile.
Bayern Munich to demand £100m for Pavlovic
The Blues, who already have a plan in place to sign Ayyoub Bouaddi, are looking for a new midfielder on the 2026 transfer market. Their objective is to add further talent to their engine room, someone on the same level as Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez, given that Andrey Santos and Romeo Lavia have disappointed.
Faced with this renewed interest in their gem, Bayern Munich are prepared to flex their muscles. Should a suitor come forward for Aleksandar Pavlovic in the coming months, they will set their asking price at £100m, which would make him the biggest sale in their history.
This article was originally published on Top Mercato.
