Chelsea's efforts to complete a deal for Manchester City starlet Nico O'Reilly have fallen flat, with the reigning Premier League champions in no mood to sell without a buy-back option.. Enzo Maresca's Blues have benefited from the presence of City academy graduate Cole Palmer in their starting line-up, and it has been claimed that they explored a move for O'Reilly early in the window. The midfielder scored his first City goal against Salford in the FA Cup, and has also tasted Premier League and Champions League action this term.

City have been busy in the January window after finding themselves playing catch-up domestically and in Europe. Abdukodir Khusanov, Omar Marmoush and Vitor Reis have arrived at a combined cost of more than £100million, and they could yet land Nico Gonzalez from Porto. There have also been a number of January exits, with Kyle Walker's loan move to AC Milan chief among them. For now, though, it appears O'Reilly won't add his name to that list.

According to the Manchester Evening News, Chelsea made an approach to City in January over the 19-year-old. However, City were reportedly determined to avoid their mistake with Palmer. Pep Guardiola's side are said to have only been prepared to entertain a move if there was a buy-back clause inserted - something they didn't manage with Palmer's £42.5m exit in 2023. With Chelsea said to be unwilling to entertain the idea, O'Reilly stayed put.

While Chelsea could yet return with an eleventh-hour bid on deadline day, City's position has become clear. As things stand, he is expected to remain at the Etihad Stadium for the remainder of the season and could feature in Saturday's FA Cup trip to Leyton Orient. How big a future does Nico O'Reilly have at Manchester City? Have your say in the comments section. O'Reilly, who made his top-flight debut against Ipswich in January, was an unused substitute for City's trip to Arsenal on Sunday. Guardiola's team were humbled in North London, conceding the opener inside two minutes and eventually losing 5-1, though their manager took some positives from the early part of the game.

"I only regret the last 25 minutes, we forgot to do what we should do, what we have done for 65/70 minutes," Guardiola told the BBC. "Of course it's a difficult game starting in this stadium, against that team in the first minutes it's happened many times this season. "But after 10/15 minutes I think we took the game and played really, really, really, really good and we are in it after 1-1 and good momentum we pass to make the transition with Omar [Marmoush] and a deflection and the third goal.

"But after that, we then continued to do what you have to do in terms defensively and [be a] little bit more patient. and when you're playing that way they can run and of course at 3-1 they are comfortable, its more difficult. I regret the last 15/20 minutes, the rest was a really good game for our side. It's difficult to understand when you see the result but this is my feeling.". Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read ourPrivacy Notice.