Barcelona are closing in on the signing of Dutch goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen, which is set to trigger Claudio Bravo’s move to Manchester City.
Cillessen is expected to be left out of Ajax’s Champions League qualifier against FC Rostov on Wednesday and he has almost certainly played his last game for the Dutch club.
He will move to Barcelona for a fee of around £12million, signing a long-term deal with the Catalan club.
Cillessen’s arrival will finally allow Bravo to complete his move to City, the Daily Mail claim.
New Etihad boss Pep Guardiola wants Chile stopper Bravo, 33, as a replacement for Joe Hart, who has lost his number one spot at City at the start of the season.
Guardiola likes a goalkeeper who can play out from the back and the Spaniard believes Hart’s distribution is one of his weaker attributes.
Robert Fernandez, Barcelona’s sporting director, confirmed on Saturday that talks are at an advanced stage for Bravo to join City.
He said: “We have an agreement in principle with Manchester City for Claudio Bravo. We are waiting for events this week.
“We will open the door for Claudio when we sign another goalkeeper.
“We were talking about his contract renewal when City’s offer arrived and the player told us that he wanted to think well about it, and evaluate other things. In the end we reached the principle of an agreement.”
England number one Hart is wanted by Everton and could join the Goodison Park club on a season-long loan.
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