City eye-up Chelsea's Kovacic to replace Gundogan

Manchester City are about to lose Ilkay Gundogan. The German star won't be renewing his contract with the English side and everything seems to indicate that he'll be becoming a new FC Barcelona player ahead of next season.

According to 'Sport', the footballer's agent had a meeting with the Barca board, in which both parties are thought to have come to an agreement for the midfielder to become a new signing for Xavi's side from 1st July.

Faced with this situation, City will be forced to sign a replacement who will be able to fill his space for next season. With that in mind, the favourite, according to 'Evening Standard', is none other than Mateo Kovacic.

The Croatian star is one of Chelsea's main men and his techinal ability would fit what Pep Guardiola wants in his sides. Therefore, the Mancunian side are thought to want to start negotiations to try and get him on board for next season.

28 year-old Kovacic has a contract at Stamford Bridge until 2024, meaning him leaving could get Chelsea a tidy sum of money, which would come in handy considering they need to balance the books to comply with the Financial Fair Player rules.

We'll have to wait and see what happens in the next few months, but what's for sure is that the Croat could become a big signing for Manchester City for next season.