Juventus have reportedly taken a liking to Manchester City left-back Sergio Gomez.
The 22-year-old joined the Premier League champions from Anderlecht in the summer transfer window but has only made fleeting appearances under Pep Guardiola so far.
Gomez has played just five times in England's top flight this season, appearing for 106 minutes in total and coming up with one assist against Manchester United in October.
The Spaniard has made starts for Man City in the Champions League, FA Cup and EFL Cup, though, making the first XI on four occasions in Europe during the group stage.
However, Gomez was sent off in the first half of City's 0-0 draw with Copenhagen in October, and he has been an unused substitute in the Citizens' last nine Premier League games.
© Reuters
The former Borussia Dortmund youngster is under contract at the Etihad Stadium until 2026, but Joao Cancelo and Nathan Ake have often been preferred at left-back in the 2022-23 season.
As a result, Gomez's future is already being called into question, and Calciomercatoweb claims that Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has identified him as an ideal signing.
Both Alex Sandro and Juan Cuadrado are due to become free agents at the end of the season, and Allegri is therefore eyeing a move for Gomez as one replacement for the pair, who are unlikely to sign new deals.
The report states that Gomez could ask to leave Man City if his playing situation does not change, but the Premier League champions could still demand as much as €40m (£35.5m) to sanction a sale.
However, with City and Juventus doing business in the past for Cancelo and Danilo's part-exchange deal, the Bianconeri are supposedly optimistic about driving the price down to as low as €25m (£22.2m).
© Reuters
Juventus are not alone in their pursuit of Gomez, though, as the report adds that Inter Milan have identified the former Spain Under-21 international as a potential replacement for Robin Gosens.
A separate report from The Athletic states that Man City do not 'trust' Gomez to start games for the club just yet, and he was largely brought in as an alternative to Marc Cucurella.
City were also said to have been considering loaning the defender out for the current campaign, but they decided against it due to a lack of other available targets at left-back.
Gomez will expect to endure another evening on the bench when Guardiola's side welcome Tottenham Hotspur to the Etihad Stadium for Thursday's Premier League showdown.
Following Saturday's 2-1 derby defeat to Manchester United, the champions have fallen eight points behind Arsenal at the top of the table but could reduce that gap to five with victory over Spurs in midweek.
Ben Knapton
