Man City favourites in shootout with Real Madrid for Isco

Manchester City may already have David Silva and Samir Nasri on their books to fulfil playmaking duties, but it is no surprise to learn that Manuel Pellegrini wants to bolster his options in this department further with Isco.

Pellegrini is no stranger to building a team around the capabilities of an attacking midfielder, as he did most notably at Villarreal through Juan Roman Riquelme and then at Malaga with firstly Santi Cazorla and then with Isco.

The fact that he has already flourished under Pellegrini may give Man City the slight edge in the race for his signature and it is 4/7 that Isco has signed at the Etihad by September 1st.

Isco himself has revealed that offers are on the table from both Man City and Real Madrid and indicated that Pellegrini’s stance would be a decisive factor on his decision.

Real Madrid are 7/4 to land Isco in the summer transfer window and the talk is that Alvaro Morata and Dani Carvajal have been encouraging Isco to join them at the Bernabeu on numerous occasions during the ongoing UEFA European U21 Championships.

Isco would offer something slightly different to the likes of Silva and Nasri at Man City, as he is arguably a little more direct and certainly far more likely to shoot from distance.

However, he does have the versatility to drift inside off the left flank if required, although his inclusion in this role would potentially offer more risk defensively as it is not his natural game to track runners and make tackles.

Much could also depend on how successful Real Madrid are in their chases of other transfer targets, most notably Gareth Bale and Edinson Cavani, who would cost over £100m in total.

Of the other English clubs that may have an interest in Isco, it is 10/1 he signs for Chelsea before September 1st, 33/1 that he joins Manchester United and same price he follows Cazorla to Arsenal.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.