City scout eyes 'new Yaya'

Manchester City scout Rob Newman was at Sevilla's Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium on Friday night - possibly to watch Geoffrey Kondogbia.

ABC claim Newman was present at the Primera Division match in which hosts Sevilla continued their rise up the table with a 3-1 home win over struggling Deportivo La Coruna. The City spy has been closely monitoring Spanish-based targets this season, alongside fellow scout David Fernandez, which has seen Malaga's Isco constantly linked with a summer move to the club. But his appearance in Sevilla could only have been to make a personal check on the highly-rated French midfielder Kondogbia, 20. Sevilla paid RC Lens £4million for his services last summer and, after a bedding in period, has started showing what he is capable of with some solid displays as a defensive midfielder. His tackling prowess coupled with his explosive power and intelligence on the ball have resulted in comparisons to current City first-team star Yaya Toure. Sevilla travel to Barcelona this weekend and scouts from all of Europe's top clubs are likely to be there with a view to assessing Kondogbia against the very best.