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The Guardian is among a number of newspapers reporting that Southampton and England left-back, Ryan Bertrand, may move to Manchester City in January.
With summer signing Benjamin Mendy sidelined by a ruptured cruciate ligament which may keep him out for the rest of the season, City are in the market for a specialist replacement, despite stand-in Fabian Delph having played well there since Mendy’s injury.
Bertrand, who has 17 caps for England, has also been linked with a move back to Chelsea, with whom he won the Champions League back in 2012, and who loaned the player to Southampton three years ago, before converting it into a permanent move a year later.
Southampton, who already face the loss of experienced defenders Virgil van Dijk and Cedric, are unlikely to let Bertrand go unless a very large offer is made for a player under contract until 2021. However, Manchester City have previously shown, with the capture of players like John Stones, Kyle Walker and Mendy himself, that they are prepared to pay big money for defenders, so price may not be an issue.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.