There are a couple of ironies about Manchester City’s pursuit of Marc Cucurella.

The bidding has been opened at £30 million for Albion’s player of the year.

It is a figure which is considered ridiculous by the top figures at the Seagulls.

It is said there was laughter when the offer came in.

Cucurella is a prized member of the Albion squad and gameplan.

They cannot exactly claim he is one their own.

He is from the coastline near Barcelona and came in a year ago from Getafe barely speaking any English.

So there is irony in the fact City could surely have had the former FC Barcelona full-back a while ago for a lot less than £30 million.

Even if he then went out on loan.

They should surely have known all about him - about his potential, his attributes and his all-action style.

In fact it was Albion who saw all that and decided he was Premier League ready.

They picked him up for about £15 million from relative Madrid minnows Getafe last summer after spotting Prem potential when, it appears, others did not.

Cucurella flew in to complete the deal on deadline day last August along with two representatives – one also travelling from Barajas airport in Madrid and the other from Girona in Catalonia.

And there is the clue. Cucurella is a Catalan and there would have been plenty of opportunity for the top men at City to know all about him.

Pep Guardiola will have been aware of his fellow Catalan, as would his director of football Txiki Begirisitain.

The other irony? That City’s bid appears not to recognise the scarcity of left-backs out there at the moment, something of which they should be aware given they do not have one themselves.

Cucurella is usually tagged as a left-back but can also play on the left of a back three or as wing-back.

He can also fill two or three of those roles in one game, switching easily depending on whether his side are attacking or defending.

City have been left without a specialist left-back. Did they even have one anyway in Oleksandr Zinchenko?

So they should know hard it would be for Albion to replace Cucurella were he to move on.

It would appear City have allowed one or two names of other potential left-back targets to leak out.

If that is a tactic aimed at un-nerving the Albion hierarchy, it is not likely to succeed.

Partly because they are not desperate to sell their man in the first place.

And partly because they will already be very aware of who is out there and who City might go for.

One Argus contact believes Albion would have more data on left-backs than City.

So, for now, it leaves us with a waiting game.

And, all the time, the clock is ticking, the Premier League season is getting pretty close and teams are looking to be ready to go.

Unlike with Ben White and very possibly Yves Bissouma, Albion would need to go out and buy a replacement for Cucurella.

The Argus understands they have no idea how far City will go with their bidding or when they will be back in touch.

They are not going to help by placing a price tag on their player.

Relationships between the two clubs remain good although this is a first major dealing between them.

Could City under-estimate the bargaining skills and stubbornness of Tony Bloom and the high-level experience of Paul Barber?

While the channels of communication remain open, it is thought that will not continue until the end of the window.

Albion are in no mood to let any such affair drag on.

They are aware Cucurella might be attracted by the chance to join City and therefore disappointed should such a chance appear and then be taken away.

In that eventuality, he would be encouraged to knuckle down – and the expectation is he would do just that.

He would need to keep performance levels high and, besides, every indication so far has been that he thoroughly enjoys his football with the Seagulls.

He will need to do that and more if another offer from a major club is to come in, be it in January or next summer.

For now, the bidding has started - but not, it appears, the serious business.