Barcelona's €50m starlet and 'next Gabriel Jesus' on Man City radar

Welcome to the latest edition of the City Is Ours daily round-up, where we take a look at some of the Manchester City stories you might have missed.

Another day, another link between City and Barcelona — although this is one that should certainly please Blues.

Penalty fluffs aside, Gabriel Jesus has proved to be a fantastic signing since moving to the Etihad Stadium five years ago and the Premier League champions are apparently looking to mine the same well of talent in Brazil.

Away from the field, we see the Jack Grealish card being played in a romantic setting. It’s certainly an ambitious ploy…

As we’ve seen over the past week, Ferran Torres’ unveiling press conference was not quite the end of his Barcelona transfer saga.

The Blaugrana still need to clear some space on their wage bill to register Ferran with LaLiga and Philippe Coutinho’s loan move to Aston Villa is unlikely to be their only outgoing this month.

While City should have no interest in various chunks of Barcelona deadwood, Marca are carrying a report, which initially appeared in El Nacional, stating that Gavi is on Pep Guardiola’s radar.

The 17-year-old midfield sensation has a €50mrelease clause in his contract. Although Barca would clearly like to tie the Spain international down to new terms, head coach Xavi said on Friday that the situation relating to senior player contracts would have to be remedied before the likes of Gavi can be offered fresh terms.

Our view: We all know Pep can never have enough technically gifted midfielders and Gavi has the potential to be one of the very best of the coming generation.

Barcelona’s abysmal financial state makes this move an intriguing possibility, but the club are in the early stages of a renewal and rebuilding process under Xavi. Losing arguably their finest homegrown youngster would play terribly against that backdrop so they would be loath to let it happen.

City fans enjoyed Kayky getting his senior debut from the bench during last night’s 4-1 win over Swindon and the 18-year-old Brazilian might soon be joined by another highly rated compatriot at Eastlands.

Brazilian journalist Jorge Nicola has listed City as being among several heavyweight European clubs keeping tabs on Palmeiras’ 15-year-old prodigy Endrick.

It’s already looking like a crowded pursuit, however, with Manchester United, Liverpool, Barcelona and Real Madrid all similarly thought to be in the mix.

Our view : City, of course, signed Jesus from Palmeiras back in 2017 and the reigning Copa Libertadores champion come with a certain guarantee of quality where their youth system is concerned.

The big and broad list of major teams apparently chasing Endrick suggests this one is very much in its early stages. But, in the meantime, can we find out how he is at penalties?

January is a time of new beginnings, so what better time to delve into the Guardian’s blind date column?

What on earth has this got to do with City? Bear with us, you’ll not be disappointed.

Charity worker Ellie was paired with auditor Tom (both 27) for this weekend’s instalment, although it seems the latter’s calculations left something to be desired when he compared himself to a City star over tapas.

Asked whether there had been any awkward moments, Ellie replied: “He said he’s been likened to Jack Grealish and I couldn’t quite hold in my laughter.”

Although the rest of the couple’s evening appeared to be enjoyed by both parties, Tom found himself very much in the friend zone at the end of proceedings.

When asked to describe Tom in three words, Ellie’s cutting assessment was: “Not Jack Grealish”.

Our view : Do we really need this section when we’ve already had “Ellie’s view”?

In fairness to Tom, he does have vaguely floppy hair, but you’d have to be in a very dimly lit room to consider him a Grealish lookalike.

We just hope he didn’t start getting his calves out between courses.

Have you ever brought up a City player on a first date and was it a successful ice breaker? Follow the City Is Ours editor Dom Farrell on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.