How Pep Guardiola’s ideal Manchester City squad could look like after the transfer window
Manchester City have already suffered a big blow in the summer transfer window and the aim for the rest of the summer will be to suffer no more.
Losing Ilkay Gundogan could be significant. City have gotten used to saying goodbye to legends and have always survived when doubters thought they were lacking in certain positions, but Pep Guardiola hasn’t lost a player like his last captain.
While the likes of David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany were all on the decline and the time was right to move on, Gundogan is still playing the best football of his career and was instrumental in the treble triumph. Mateo Kovacic has been signed but it’s impossible to know if he’ll be able to fill the void left behind.
City don’t view the Croatian as a direct replacement and proved they still want another midfielder after making an approach for Declan Rice before being priced out. With Jude Bellingham also accounted for, there aren’t many obvious midfield signings for City to make
Exciting Celta Vigo starlet Gabri Veiga has been linked and, though a bit more attacking than Gundogan, the 21-year-old appears to be the profile of midfielder Guardiola likes. Otherwise, it looks like Gundogan’s role will be divided by Kovacic, Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez.
Now City need to ensure they don’t lose any other important players, the most obvious being Bernardo Silva. The playmaker has longed to return to mainland Europe to be closer to home for three years now but no suitable offer has yet been made for his services. Fingers will have to keep crossed to hope one never does as Paris Saint-Germain are heavily linked this summer, as are Saudi Arabian clubs – though they are a bit further away from Lisbon.
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Any dream squad of Guardiola’s would have Bernardo Silva in it so hopefully he remains. A player like him would be near-on impossible to replace as he’s so good in so many different roles but a new wide forward would have to be signed if he did depart. The same goes for Riyad Mahrez, who has also been touted with a move.
The defence is City’s biggest priority at present, though. Aymeric Laporte and Joao Cancelo are both likely to leave after growing frustrated with their lack of playing time last season, with the latter leaving on loan to Bayern Munich in January after a sudden collapse in his relationship with the Blues boss.
Guardiola has begun to favour a defence made up entirely of centre-backs so it’s no surprise City are looking to add yet another to the list in Josko Gvardiol. The Croatian colossus is City’s top target but RB Leipzig want £85m plus additional performance-related payments. City are not yet ready to meet that valuation despite advanced talks, but all parties still expect a deal can be done.
Rico Lewis’ rise to the first team and the performances of John Stones, Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji at full-back means a replacement for Cancelo would not be vital but a full-back would need to be considered if Kyle Walker also left. The 35-year-old also had complaints about his lack of minutes, despite getting back into the team in the run-in, and expressed his disappointment of not starting the Champions League final publically. Bayern have been linked.
If Cancelo and Walker both left it would leave just Lewis as the club’s only natural full-back, with fellow inexperienced youngster Sergio Gomez actually a converted attacker. Having so few options in that position, when Guardiola could just as easily decide he wants to change his system again, would be very risky. Ideally, Walker will stay but otherwise yet more money will have to be spent.
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