Credit: Imago

Oliver Walton

Wed 18 March 2026 20:30, UK

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Manchester City need to plan ahead to land Tottenham right-back Pedro Porro this summer following Matheus Nunes’ performance in their loss to Real Madrid.

Pep Guardiola’s side were dumped out of the Champions League by Madrid on Tuesday with a 2-1 loss at the Etihad Stadium.

Vinicius Junior’s brace between Erling Haaland’s consolation saw the Spanish giants progress to the quarter-finals of the competition with a 5-1 aggregate victory.

Nunes was handed a starting berth at right-back for City as he continues to deputise in the position, but he struggled to contain the visitors and was taken off early.

Man City’s transfer plans need to ramp up as they look to compete with Arsenal next season, with Porro already on their radar ahead of the summer window.

Matheus Nunes failed to make an impact over two legs vs Real Madrid

Nunes is a central midfielder by trade, but has been City’s starting right-back for the majority of the campaign after they chose not to bolster the position last summer.

It came as a surprise to many to see him drop out of their starting eleven for the first leg against Los Blancos, with Abukodir Khusanov instead playing on the right of the back four.

Guardiola’s reluctance to start Nunes in one of City’s biggest games of the season is a clear sign that he has begun not to trust him to hold his own against the best teams in the world.

His experiment failed in the first leg, though, and so the Portugal international was reinstated to the team for the second leg, but his struggles were clear to see.

Nunes did not have the pace to keep up with Vinicius when he broke beyond the hosts’ backline, and even when he played further forward as a wing-back in the second half, he failed to create a chance.

He was dribbled past twice and did not make a single defensive contribution, while Nunes also won just two of his six ground duels against Madrid players.

Even though he has been a reliable performer for the Citizens this season, it has been clear to see in the last two UCL games that they lack a specialist right-back, and so efforts to sign Porro must accelerate as soon as possible.

City want Porro but must act fast amid Tottenham contract latest

Porro was on City’s books between 2019 and 2022, but failed to ever make a senior appearance for the club amid loan spells with Real Vallodolid and Sporting CP.

He shone in Portugal and soon earned a loan move to Spurs after joining Sporting permanently, and Porro has now been plying his trade in North London for the last three years.

The Spain international is one of the best right-backs in the Premier League, and City are believed to be watching him closely ahead of the summer.

Sources have told Football Insider that Tottenham want Porro to sign a new contract, however, and so the Citizens need to begin talks with his representatives over a move very soon.