Manchester City have reportedly identified Club Brugge attacker Tajon Buchanan as a possible transfer target for the January window.
The 24-year-old plied his trade for a plethora of clubs across the United States before joining Brugge in 2022 from New England Revolution, who received £5.5m in the transaction.
Buchanan has struggled to set the world alight since touching down in Belgium, only coming up with five goals and 12 assists in 66 appearances, but he has had more influence on proceedings in the early period of the 2023-24 season.
From 20 games in the current campaign, the Canada international has registered three goals and four assists, largely from a right-back position despite his previous exploits further forward.
Buchanan has also been deployed in a variety of roles for Canada since making his senior international debut in 2021, and he started all three of their games at the 2023 World Cup, setting up an Alphonso Davies goal in a 4-1 loss to Croatia.
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Buchanan has won a total of 35 caps for his country at senior level, registering four goals and seven assists in the process, but his contract with Brugge only runs until the summer of 2025.
The winger's short-running deal could pressure the Belgian side into a sale next year if he elects not to pen fresh terms, and according to the Daily Star, Man City are weighing up a winter swoop.
Citizens head coach Pep Guardiola is supposedly desperate to bolster his side's options on the right-hand side of the field, having lost Riyad Mahrez to Al-Ahli during the summer window.
Jeremy Doku has made an immediate impression since making the move to City from Rennes, but the Belgian starlet has largely played off the left in the Premier League, leaving Bernardo Silva to bomb down the right flank more often than not.
With Doku also struggling with a recent knock and 20-year-old Oscar Bobb yet to become an established first-team regular, City could try to tempt Buchanan to the Premier League, but they will not get him on the cheap.
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While the Canadian will only have 18 months left to run on his deal in January, the report adds that Club Brugge will still ask for around £50m to consider parting ways with Buchanan, who is unlikely to sign a new deal in Belgium.
Brugge's hefty asking price is said to stem from an agreement with the New England Revolution over a sell-on clause, which will see the MLS side pocket 10% of any future transfer.
Italian giants Inter Milan are also understood to be tracking Buchanan, and Brugge could try to use the Nerazzurri's interest to spark a January bidding war between Simone Inzaghi's men and Man City.
Man City snapped a four-game winless run in the Premier League by defeating Luton Town 2-1 on Sunday, as Silva and Jack Grealish cancelled out Elijah Adebayo's first-half opener.
The Citizens remain fourth in the Premier League table - four points off leaders Liverpool - and are back in Champions League action away to Red Star Belgrade on Wednesday.
Ben Knapton
