Manchester City open talks with 21-year-old as an alternative to Chelsea-bound Marc Cucurella: Reports

Manchester City are reportedly interested in acquiring the services of Anderlecht left-back Sergio Gomez this summer after missing out on the signing of Chelsea-linked defender Marc Cucurella.

Gomez, who has three years left on his current deal at Lotto Park, was a revelation for the Belgian side last season. Since arriving from Borussia Dortmund on a permanent transfer in the summer of 2021, he has registered seven goals and 15 assists in 49 appearances.

A Barcelona academy graduate, the 21-year-old is regarded as one of the most exciting full-backs in Europe. He has also helped Spain lift both the UEFA European Under-19 Championship and UEFA European Under-17 Championship trophies in 2017 and 2019, respectively.

According to Het Nieuwsblad, Manchester City have begun talks to sign Gomez, who was named Anderlecht's 'Player of the Season' last campaign. The report also added that Cityzens' manager Pep Guardiola's brother works for the agency that represents Gomez.

Manchester City are currently in the market for a left-back after shipping off Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal for £30 million earlier in the ongoing transfer window. The club were monitoring the situation of Brighton defender Marc Cucurella for quite a while but Chelsea are reportedly close to completing a £50 million deal for the Spaniard.

So far, the six-time Premier League champions have roped in strikers Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez from Borussia Dortmund and River Plate, respectively. They have also added midfielder Kalvin Phillips from Leeds and goalkeeper Stefan Ortega from Arminia Bielefeld.

The Pep Guardiola-coached side are scheduled to begin their 2022-23 Premier League campaign away at West Ham United on August 7.

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Paul Merson backs Manchester City to retain the Premier League title

In his column for Sportskeeda, former Arsenal player Paul Merson shared his predictions for the upcoming season. He wrote:

"I think City will win the Premier League, but I have to say it's not as much of a foregone conclusion as others make it out to be. Erling Haaland's arrival is obviously a massive boost for Pep Guardiola, but it's not the end of it with Liverpool still very much in the running."

He continued:

"With the departures of Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling, City have lost at least 30 Premier League goals between the pair and that could turn out to be a huge problem for them. City, Liverpool and Chelsea pick themselves as the top three in whatever order and I'd be shocked if anything else were to happen."

Manchester City have won the league four times in the last five seasons, and they will be confident of adding to that number.