Manchester City failed to sign £85.8m Bayern Munich star
Manchester City made an audacious attempt to lure Aleksandar Pavlovic away from Bayern Munich this summer.
This has been a massive transfer window for Man City under Enzo Maresca, with the club completing several big-money deals for new midfielders.
Elliot Anderson was signed for £116m, Ayyoub Bouaddi joined for £81.4m, while Enzo Fernandez moved in a record deal worth £125m.
Aleksandar Pavlovic was a target for Man City
Christian Falk has exclusively told CFBayern Insider that before Man City moved for Bouaddi, they had earmarked Pavlovic as their first-choice target.
The 22-year-old enjoyed an outstanding campaign for Bayern under Vincent Kompany last season, and the Citizens were prepared to pay £85.8m for him without add-ons.
Pavlovic initially asked Man City for time to consider the proposal, but eventually decided that he wanted to continue at the German club.
While Man City never came up with a concrete offer, Bayern were always aware of Man City’s interest in the midfielder.
Falk said: “This is an exclusive story I can share with you all. It’s very interesting because it was incredibly concrete. Manchester City had Aleksandar Pavlović as their number one option for the position. First talks were already in March and they said they could pay €100m [£85.8m].
“This was just the starting idea, it could have been more. Pavlović took time to decide – he’s very young at 22 – and told City he needed to think about it. In the end, he decided to stay at Bayern Munich.
“So, there was no concrete offer at Bayern Munich, but the club was more than aware of the interest. In the end, with Pavlović having made his position clear, Manchester City decided to move on to their number two on the list, which was Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille. They paid €95m [£81.5m], so you see how much they would have spent on Aleksandar Pavlović.
“If he’d said yes, he’d have been a Manchester City player by now, so you can see just how concrete it was. In the end, he decided for Bayern Munich.”
Aleksandar Pavlovic: Key player for Bayern
Pavlovic has probably made the right decision, as he is expected to play a prominent role for Bayern once again this season.
The German midfielder scored in the 5-1 win over VfB Stuttgart and is set to form a strong midfield partnership alongside Joshua Kimmich.
Bayern may well have considered selling Pavlovic if Man City had made a concrete offer, given how tempting the proposed fee was and the huge profit they could have made from the transfer.
At the same time, the German champions did not want to let him go, and Vincent Kompany will be relieved that Pavlovic ultimately decided to stay put.
