As Pep Guardiola comes down on a Riyad Mahrez replacement, Man City agrees to a £55 million agreement with Rennes for Jeremy Doku. The winger is expected to be available for Sunday’s match against Sheffield United.

After agreeing on a £55 million transfer fee with Rennes, Manchester City is poised to sign quick winger Jeremy Doku.

When Pep Guardiola’s Premier League champions play Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Sunday, the 21-year-old is probably available.

Since the middle of the previous season, City had been keeping an eye on Doku, but their interest grew after Riyad Mahrez abruptly left for Al-Ahli last month.

The 14-cap Belgian, who comes highly recommended by fellow countryman Kevin De Bruyne, will bring pace to a City team that Guardiola felt lacked more dynamism.

Doku has endured a number of hamstring ailments while playing for Rennes, but his signing gives Guardiola hope after he acknowledged at the weekend that his team needed additional players.

Cole Palmer and James McAtee, two highly regarded academy prospects who have yet to decide where to play football this season, are also affected by the change.

Guardiola stated last week that Palmer will stay with City or go permanently, indicating that a loan is not an option. Both are sought after by a variety of clubs in England and overseas.

Doku is renowned for his ferocious pressuring in the last third and scored six goals for Rennes in Ligue 1 last season. On the first day of the season, he scored as Rennes defeated Metz 5-1, but he didn’t play in Sunday’s tie with Lens as a move to the Etihad Stadium got closer.

When betting allegations against Lucas Paqueta from West Ham surfaced last week, City pushed the transaction forward a day later and is still looking for a center midfielder.

Doku’s arrival will push City’s summer expenditure above £150 million, even if Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic have already made an impression in their little action. With Aymeric Laporte expected to sign for Al Nassr for £23.5 million, they will have recouped about half of that financing through sales.