Manchester City have reportedly seen an opening offer of £30m for left-back Marc Cucurella rejected by Brighton & Hove Albion.
The 23-year-old is believed to be Pep Guardiola's primary target for the remainder of the summer window, as he looks to replace Arsenal-bound Oleksandr Zinchenko.
City have allegedly agreed to sell Zinchenko for an initial £30m and the Ukraine international has also agreed personal terms on a four-year contract at the Emirates Stadium.
On Wednesday, Zinchenko was spotted wearing Arsenal's training kit in Orlando, where the Gunners are based for their pre-season tour of the USA.
With Zinchenko heading for the exit door, City have now stepped up their efforts to recruit Cucurella, although as things stand there is still some distance between themselves and Brighton over a transfer fee for the Spaniard.
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According to The Athletic, the Premier League champions have tabled an opening offer of around £30m, a similar fee they are to receive from Arsenal for Zinchenko, but their bid has been rejected by Brighton.
The report adds that City are willing to increase their initial offer for Cucurella, but are prepared to walk away from the deal if Brighton refuse to lower their £50m valuation.
Negotiations between both clubs are thought to be in the early stages and further talks are set to take place in the coming days.
Speaking to reporters, via journalist Jack Gaughan, on Thursday morning (GMT) regarding City's pursuit of Cucurella, Guardiola stated that he already has three players available to him who can operate at left-back.
"We are in negotiations. If it doesn't happen, we have alternatives. [Joao] Cancelo, [Josh] Wilson-Esbrand is a young talent, [Nathan] Ake can play there," Guardiola said after City's 2-1 friendly win over Club America in Houston.
Despite Guardiola's comments, one previous report claims that City have identified Stuttgart left-back Borna Sosa as a potential target should they fail in their pursuit of Cucurella.
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Cucurella only joined the Seagulls last summer from Getafe for around £15.4m, signing a five-year contract at the Amex Stadium.
However, Brighton chairman Tony Bloom suggested earlier this summer that the club would not stand in the defender's way if they received a suitable offer.
"[Marc] was unbelievably good last season, his first season in the Premier League. We're hoping for more to come and we haven't had a bid for him," Bloom told The Argus.
"We've got to be realistic if a certain bid comes in and the player wants to move, the player will move, but we are not anticipating, we're not looking for our best players to move on."
Speculation over a proposed move for Cucurella to the Etihad Stadium intensified at the end of last month when the Spaniard liked an Instagram post from Fabrizio Romano confirming Kalvin Phillips's agreement to join the Citizens.
Oliver Thomas
