The Manchester Evening News’ Stuart Brennan believes that Karim Rekik could complete a move to Marseille in the coming days, with the French club set to sign the surplus-to-requirements defender off the back of two good loan spells in Holland with PSV Eindhoven.
Since making his professional City debut in 2011, Rekik has been tipped for success under both Roberto Mancini (who gave him his league debut a little over a year later) and Manuel Pellegrini, with the 20-year-old set to be one of the first to emerge from the youth side in recent years.
However, the emergence of Jason Denayer and the signing of Eliaquim Mangala last summer has seen the Dutchman deemed surplus to requirements at City, which has led to links with a permanent move to PSV, while Marseille and Atletico Madrid were also thought to be interest. Keen to advance himself, a move back to the Eredivisie was ruled out, and now Rekik appears to have agreed to join Marseille, meaning their long-standing interest in him ends as a success.
The fee to take Rekik to Ligue 1 is believed to be around £3.5 million, and the deal could go through very soon. His departure leaves Denayer seemingly unopposed as City’s up-and-coming central defender.
