Eduardo Inda reported on El Chiringuito de Jugones that Manchester City, who will embark on a new era under incoming manager Enzo Maresca, have identified Valverde as the central piece of their summer rebuild.
"There is an English club interested in the Uruguayan. I believe he no longer feels settled at Real Madrid. That club is Manchester City, under Maresca, who would want him. They would be prepared to pay £90m."
The figure falls well short of Valverde's valuation of £120m and is likely to face resistance from Madrid — though the club's position has shifted considerably in recent weeks.
Valverde has endured one of the most turbulent seasons of his career. His public complaints about being used out of position under then-head coach Xabi Alonso — who was dismissed in January after just seven months — escalated into a training-ground altercation with Aurélien Tchouaméni in early May that left the Uruguayan hospitalised with a head injury and saw both players fined £500,000 each. Internal reports indicated that a significant faction of senior players had subsequently called for his departure.
Despite the dysfunction, Valverde remains one of the most decorated midfielders in the squad. He is contracted until 2029 and holds a release clause of £1bn, the so-called anti-sheikh clause inserted to ward off Gulf investment interest. His performances this season included a hat-trick against Manchester City in the Champions League last 16 — a night that only amplified his appeal to the club now pursuing him.
Florentino Pérez publicly backed Valverde in recent days alongside Tchouaméni, and the club's official position remains that neither player is for sale. But with Valverde's dressing-room situation unresolved and Mourinho expected to inherit a squad in need of reorganisation, Madrid are not closing the door.
Valverde himself is making no decisions until Uruguay's World Cup campaign concludes. His preference is to remain at the club, honour the captaincy armband he inherited following Dani Carvajal's retirement, and prove himself under new management. But he will not dig in if Jose Mourinho and the club make clear he has no future there.
City's pursuit adds another dimension to one of the summer's most volatile transfer situations.