Man City: Pep Guardiola steps up his centre-back pursuit
Defensive lapses forced the Cityzens out of the FA Cup race against Arsenal.
Over 10 attempted shots with 70% ball possession, this is what you anticipate from a Pep Guardiola side. What you don’t comprehend is only two shots forcing a save off the opposition goalkeeper and concede a brace due to dormant defending issues.
Such performances have become a theme this season as Man City endured a disappointing title defence, conceding the Premier League to Liverpool with an 18-point gulf between the sides, recently.
Failing to replace Vincent Kompany last summer proved to be a major factor in City’s significant dip this season. The former skipper was a defensive stalwart of the Sky Blues and was capable of weathering the storm single-handedly. In the absence of the Belgian, Pep Guardiola lost a major mentoring figure in the squad.
Arteta sinks Manchester City's ship 👀
— GOAL (@goal) July 19, 2020
@Aubameyang7 fires the Gunners to the FA Cup final 💥 pic.twitter.com/P72zRZzuCA
Trying to fill the void 12 months ago, Manchester City attempted to lure Harry Maguire to the Etihad Stadium. Instead, the English defender ended up on the other side of the city as the Red Devils paid a world-record fee of £80m for the 26-year-old.
Not managing to match Leicester’s valuation proved to be a costly decision on the pitch, as Aymeric Laporte’s long-term injury meant that City had no dominating figure to marshal the defence.
At times, Fernandinho was chosen over John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi to feature in Man City’s back four. It was of no effect as Pep Guardiola’s men failed to maintain a compact shape in a high defensive line, resulting in a slew of teams using counter-attacks to lethal effect against them.
Losing nine league games is contrastingly opposite to the standards set by Guardiola for the past two seasons. To rectify their shortcomings of this term, the City management staff has prioritised centre backs as the prime target for the impending transfer market.
City working on deals for Kalidou Koulibaly and Nathan Ake
The FA Cup disaster has proved to be the nadir of Manchester City’s 2019/20 campaign. It has, for sure, prompted the board to take decisive action in the upcoming months should they want to regain their domestic ascendency.
No sooner had the FA Cup been a distant memory than Man City started discussions over the recruitment of their defensive targets.
As per yesterday’s report from The Guardian, the Cityzens are deemed ‘close’ to reaching a deal with Bournemouth over the signing of Holland international Nathan Ake. The left-footed centre back is of interest to Chelsea, too. But, Kai Havertz is Blues’ priority, currently.
For the services of Ake, reports suggest that Man City have to pay a fee in the region of £35m. It’s understood that Chelsea had a buy-back clause for the Dutch defender but the London club decided against its activation.
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"Manchester City are close to agreeing a deal to sign Nathan Aké from Bournemouth. As Pep Guardiola accelerates a rebuild of City’s defence following an unsuccessful defence of their Premier League title, it is believed Aké will become a key recruit for a fee in the region of £35m. (The Guardian)"
In addition to Nathan Ake, Manchester City have also expressed their interest in Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly, as per reports emerging from Italy. But, the deal is far from a breakthrough as the Sky Blue chiefs are reluctant to spend around 70 million euros on the Senegal international.
Also, similar to Maguire situation a year ago, City could face competition from a few other clubs and finances could play a major part in this deal.
"The first signs of concrete interest on the part of Manchester City for Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly have been given off. The request by De Laurentiis, however, is €75m, a sum that City would not be willing to spend. (Gianluca Di Marzio)"
Must Read. Business starts for Pep Guardiola after Champions League news. light
With the CAS revoking the Champions League ban due to failure of the club to comply with Financial Fair Play, Man City are planning to resume their rebuild process in the market as planned before the embargo.
This could also mean an uncertain future for a slew of players as Guardiola seeks wholesale changes to his squad to catch Liverpool next season. Benjamin Mendy, John Stones, and Nicolas Mendy have all been linked with City exit, in recent weeks.