Man City launch stunning £173m offer for La Liga star as Nottingham Forest agree bargain deal for cult hero

Manchester City could complete some outgoing transfer business ahead of Monday’s 7pm transfer deadline

Manchester City have agreed a deal with Nottingham Forest to sell goalkeeper Stefan Ortega to the City Ground club, according to a number of reports.

Ortega is out of contract in the summer and is yet to feature for Pep Guardiola’s side this season after slipping to third choice after the summer signings of Gianluigi Donnarumma and James Trafford.

BBC Sport have relayed that the deal is only worth up to £500,000 with the goalkeeper’s contract situation allowing Forest to secure a bargain fee. Sean Dyche’s side are without John Victor for the rest of the season after he suffered a knee injury, and have been in the market for a new goalkeeper.

Ortega has played 56 times for City since his arrival at the club in 2022. He is somewhat of a cult hero at the Etihad Stadium after he played a key role in City’s Premier League title triumph in 2023/24.

He only played nine games but conceded just seven goals and kept four clean sheets. The biggest moment came in a 2-0 win over Tottenham in City’s penultimate outing of the season. With the game at 1-0, then Spurs forward Son Heung-min broke through on goal but Ortega stood tall and made a huge save that meant City could go on to seal a record-breaking fourth-straight top-flight crown.

In other news, Man City have made a huge £173m bid for Barcelona star Pedri. According to Fichajes, City were ready to make the young Spaniard their most expensive signing but Barca have responded with a “firm no”.

City were said to be keen to create one of the strongest midfields in world football with the addition of Pedri but Barcelona have “closed the door to any kind of negotiation for their star player.”

Barca are facing continued financial struggles and such a huge offer had the potential to make the Spanish giants at least consider it. However, by rejecting the offer, Barca are sending a clear statement of what their own sporting ambitions are.

The midfielder only turned 23 in November but has already racked up 227 appearances for Barca after breaking through at a young age. He has 28 goals and 29 assists for the La Liga outfit and has also been capped 38 times by Spain, with five international goals.