Manchester City Monday agreed a fee with French Ligue 1 side Rennes for the transfer of Belgium forward Jeremy Doku.
Doku recently informed the Ligue 1 side of his desire to move to the treble-winners and missed their game with Lens at the weekend.
City have now seen an offer worth €65m including add-ons accepted by Rennes, with personal terms on a five-year deal already agreed and a medical imminent.
African-born Doku had attracted previous glances from Chelsea while West Ham also lodged a bid but the 21-year-old was only ever interested in leaving for Pep Guardiola’s side.
Rennes head coach Bruno Genesio was forthright when asked about Doku’s absence in the draw with Lens, saying: “If he didn’t start, even though he was our best player last week, I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions.”
Doku has been targeted to replace Riyad Mahrez, who brought an end to five trophy-laden years at the Etihad by signing for Saudi Arabian side Al Ahli in July.
The Belgian international will bring another attacking edge, a boost following the long-term injury recently suffered by midfield maestro Kevin De Bruyne.
Should all go to plan in the medical, Doku will soon become City’s third first-team signing of the summer after earlier deals for Croatia internationals Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol.
Joao Cancelo is creeping ever closer to a loan move to Barcelona after asking to leave, while Dani Olmo said he is “fully focused on the task in Leipzig” when asked about links with City.
The Premier League champions are also confident of retaining Bernardo Silva, who has been heavily linked with Barcelona but could still sign a new deal in Manchester.
Support Investigative Journalism and Mentorship
Courageous Journalism of Truth,Transparency and Development is in the DNA of Prime Business Africa; By donating as little as N1000 or $1 today, you are helping to keep credible journalism and life-changing information free for all.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
