Manchester City are reportedly “on alert” as transfer speculation surrounding Real Madrid midfielder Isco continues to pick up steam, and a move could come as early as January.
The Spain international has tumbled down the pecking order in the Spanish capital since Santiago Solari was named manager in October, leading to plenty of rumours.
Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Juventus are also said to be keen on the midfielder, but City are favourites because of their longstanding interest, according to Mundo Deportivo (h/t Joe Bray of the Manchester Evening News).
Tuttosport has also reported on the exit rumours (h/t Football Italia), and AS positioned both City and Juventus as suitors.
According to COPE’s Manolo Lama (h/t AS), Isco was dropped from Tuesday’s squad to face AS Roma in the Champions League for a “lack of respect” for the manager. COPE reported the midfielder refused to shake Solari’s hand after the loss to Eibar on Saturday (h/t Marca), while AS (h/t Football Espana) report the player to be “back to square one” at the Bernabeu.
Isco missed time earlier this season because of appendicitis, halting an excellent start to the season. He had been a regular starter under Julen Lopetegui and one of the team’s few bright spots under the former Spain manager.
He returned to training in October but was eased back into the team slowly. Team-mate Dani Ceballos told El Chiringuito his absence had to do with his being out of shape (h/t Goal’s Jamie Smith), but he completed two full matches for Spain during the most recent international break, only to return to the Real bench.
According to Tom Allnutt of AFP, Isco’s absence against Roma showed there’s more going on.