Benfica confirm Man City have a €68m deal in the bag to sign Ruben Dias

Benfica have confirmed a €68m deal is in place for Manchester City to sign Ruben Dias, with Nicolas Otamendi heading the opposite direction.

Pep Guardiola’s search for a new right-sided center-back to replace Vincent Kompany, who left Manchester City last year, appears to be finally over as an agreement to sign Ruben Dias is now in place.

Benfica released a statement on their website on Monday confirming that they’ve agreed to sell Dias to City for €68m plus a further €3.6m in performance-related add-ons. They also confirmed a separate deal to sign Otamendi from City for €15m. Both transfers are subject to personal terms being finalized.

The news will be widely welcomed at City following a harrow 5-2 defeat to Leicester City on Sunday. The Citizens were clearly second-best at the Etihad Stadium as Jamie Vardy’s hat-trick and goals from James Maddison and Youri Tielemans tore them to shreds.

Dias, meanwhile, was also in action over the weekend in Benfica’s 2-0 win over Moreirense. The 23-year-old broke the deadlock with a 20th-minute opener and proceeded to guide the club to victory. He was later pictured hugging sporting director Rui Costa.

“I’m pretty sure it was his (Ruben Dias’s) last game,” conceded Benfica boss Jorge Jesus in his post-match conference on Saturday.

“But sometimes everything changes at the last second in football. I don’t think that’s going to happen, though.

“He’s a player we’re sorry to see go, he came through the academy, is our captain and plays for the national team. I also take some of the blame for him leaving today.

“This is also to do with getting knocked out of the Champions League and there are things that need to be balanced (financially) at management level. He has a high market value and is certainly already a fantastic player who will continue to improve.”

Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly, Sevilla’s Jules Kounde, and Atletico Madrid’s Jose Gimenez were also reportedly on City’s shortlist for a new center-back.