After talks, the star player for Sporting Lisbon says he wants to follow Ruben Amorim to Manchester.

Maxi Araujo, a star player for Sporting Lisbon, has joked that he wants to move to Manchester City.

After coming to Portugal from Deportivo Toluca in Mexico, the Uruguayan has been great for the team this season. So far, he has scored three goals, including one in his team’s shocking 4-1 win over City in the Champions League. That was Ruben Amorim’s last home game with the team.

After the game, Araujo said that he talked to Pep Guardiola for a short time and is thinking about moving to the Etihad Stadium in the future. He said, “I hope so, I hope so…” after flying to South America for international service.

“I asked Guardiola for a picture, and after we talked for a while, he congratulated me.” That makes me very happy. We only talked about the game.

Even though Araujo wants to play for City soon, he has made it clear that he is happy in Portugal. He also said, “I’m glad I’m getting a lot of minutes at my club.” It’s not always easy, but I think I’m adjusting well.

Because it’s hard to play in Europe, we look up to guys like Federico Valverde, Rodrigo Bentancur, and Manuel Ugarte who do things like this. I’m getting used to it, though.

“The move cost me a little at first because the team was already set up, but now I have some room.” It’s important to me that I’ve started a few games.

The 24-year-old Araujo still has a little less than five years left on his deal in Portugal. The winger was linked with a move to Barcelona before he signed with Sporting.

If Araujo does decide to move to Manchester soon, he will be the second big name from Sporting to do so. Ex-boss Ruben Amorim recently quit the club to play for Manchester United, a team that competes with City.

A lot of Sporting stars, like star forward Viktor Gyokeres, have been mentioned with moves to Old Trafford. But Amorim said he wouldn’t go after his old team until at least next summer.

“I won’t be signing [Sporting] players in January, that’s what I said,” he said after his last game with the team. The summer? I don’t know.

“The most important thing is to stay together until summer.” After that, we’ll see. The guys for Sporting are very good. I’m not sure. “Let’s see.”