Manchester City tipped to make Ruiz raid

Manchester City are reportedly set to watch Spanish midfielder Fabián Ruiz in Champions League action against Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday night. Ruiz has been heavily linked with a move away from Naples after impressing the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid with his displays – and he could be ideal for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
The 23-year-old reminds many of a young David Silva – who is leaving the Etihad Stadium next year – in his superb use of the ball and movement around the box so it would be no shock to learn that City could be very interested.
Ruiz was one of the stars of Spain’s Under-21 side as they won a fifth European Championship last summer and he has settled quickly in Serie A since joining Napoli from Real Betis last year.
Napoli paid the buyout clause of £25.5m to snap him up from Betis in July 2018 and will be looking to achieve a huge profit on their investment of he moves on at the end of the current campaign.
Napoli chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis said last week: “I paid €30m for Fabian and he’s a fantastic player. If some of the European top clubs were to offer €180m we can start talking about selling him.”
De Laurentiis is a master at stirring up an auction for Napoli’s best players when he knows they may not be able to hold onto them for much longer and reports in Italy claim City face competition for Ruiz from both Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid.
But City’s relationship with Napoli took a turn for the worse at boardroom level when the Premier League club were interested in Jorginho, who ended up joining Chelsea together with the then Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri.