Manchester City are reportedly keeping a close eye on the progress of Lyon defender Abdoulaye Ndiaye.
The 21-year-old departed Sacre-Cœur in his native Senegal in 2020 to join the Lyon academy ranks and enjoyed a productive loan spell with Bastia in the 2022-23 campaign.
During his brief stint in the second division, Ndiaye scored one goal and provided two assists from the heart of defence, helping Bastia finish fourth in the table.
Ndiaye is yet to make his senior competitive debut for Lyon, but the 2002-born centre-back has played 17 times for their B team and made the bench three times under Rudi Garcia during the 2020-21 season.
A one-cap Senegal Under-21 international, Ndiaye also featured for the final 30 minutes of Les Gones' recent friendly clash with Manchester United, which ended in a 1-0 defeat in Edinburgh.
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Ndiaye - who stands at 6ft 1in tall - is not due to become a free agent until the summer of 2025, but according to the Daily Mail, he is already attracting glances from Man City.
The report adds that City are one of several teams aiming to take advantage of Lyon's financial concerns with a swoop for Ndiaye, but they will face stiff competition for his signature.
Nevertheless, Pep Guardiola supposedly feels that the Senegalese youngster has the potential to blossom into an important player for the Citizens in the future, although wrapping up a deal for RB Leipzig's Josko Gvardiol is currently seen as the priority.
On Wednesday night, it was reported that the Premier League and Champions League winners had reached a full agreement to sign the Croatia international, who has already completed the first part of his medical.
Gvardiol - who is believed to have agreed personal terms with Man City some time ago - will likely undergo the second part of his medical on Thursday, after which he will put pen to paper on a long-term contract.
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Man City are yet to trim their defensive ranks this summer, but Gvardiol and Ndiaye could potentially provide youthful solutions if fellow 21-year-old Taylor Harwood-Bellis departs in the coming weeks.
Harwood-Bellis is thought to be on the radar of Fulham and West Ham United after captaining the England Under-21s to European Championship glory without conceding a single goal earlier this month, and a fee of £15m could be enough to prise him away from the Etihad.
Aymeric Laporte's future has also been called into question for some time amid links with Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Juventus, who have supposedly been told to pay around £25m to sign the Spain international.
Meanwhile, Kyle Walker is alleged to have told Guardiola that he wants to move to Bayern Munich this summer, while Riyad Mahrez is on the verge of sealing a switch to Al-Ahli.
Man City will meet Yokohama F. Marinos in their opening pre-season friendly on Sunday before also taking on Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid during their tour of Japan and South Korea.
Ben Knapton
