Enzo Maresca has decided City need a defender he has watched for well over a year. According to Sport Witness, citing Spanish reporting, the Italian has formally asked Manchester City’s recruitment staff to sign Real Betis centre-back Natan when the January window opens.
The 25-year-old Brazilian joined Betis on loan from Napoli in 2024 and made the move permanent a year later. Last season he logged over 3,700 minutes across 45 matches, enough to land him on the pre-list Carlo Ancelotti drew up for Brazil’s World Cup squad, though he did not make the final cut.
Betis spent €9m to turn the loan into a permanent deal. They now want more than four times that to let him go: the asking price is €40m, with Natan under contract until June 2030.
Barcelona is where he wants to go
That price is manageable for City. The player is the harder part.
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Natan has told intermediaries that his only preferred move is to Barcelona. In reporting earlier this year, Spanish sources said that if he leaves Betis “he only sees Barcelona as the next destination in his career”, and that the Catalan club has been tracking him for months.
Barcelona explored a deal in the summer without tabling a formal offer or taking the talks beyond preliminary contact. The interest has not gone away, which means Maresca’s staff will need to agree a fee with Betis and persuade the player to pick the Premier League over the club he actually wants.
City have been circling since the summer
The January request is not a cold approach. Manchester City registered interest in Natan in August, after Nathan Aké, John Stones and Manuel Akanji all departed and left Pep Guardiola’s successor short on senior options at the back.
Maresca’s current senior centre-backs are Rúben Dias, Marc Guéhi, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis, with Joško Gvardiol able to step inside from left-back when needed.
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Natan was chased by several Premier League clubs over the summer. Leeds United had a €27m bid rejected, Brentford held an interest and Fulham tabled an offer that Betis also turned down. Asked about his future, the defender told reporters he was staying put.
“I have a contract with Betis, and I’m happy here.”
Maresca first watched Natan up close as Chelsea manager, when Chelsea beat Betis 4-1 in the Conference League final in May 2025. He is now the Manchester City manager pushing to sign him, and the January window opens on 1 January 2027.
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