Pep looks to cook up a full English
GUARDIOLA READY TO SWOOP FOR THE BEST HOMEGROWN TALENT IN SUMMER SPENDING SPREE
PEP Guardiola has placed English players at the top of his wanted list this summer - with Dele Alli, Danny Rose and Jordan Pickford all being monitored by the City manager.
Guardiola is also a confirmed admirer of Jack Wilshere, with Kyle Walker another option.
The Blues boss has outlined his desire to boost the number of homegrown talent in his squad as he embarks on another summer of heavy spending.
He is already facing up to the prospect of being held to ransom over his top targets - acknowledging he will have to pay a premium for English stars.
But City have proved they are prepared to pay top money to bring in the players who fit Guardiola’s vision spending £49m on Raheem Sterling and £47m on John Stones in the past two years.
Should they firm up interest in Alli, Tottenham’s notoriously hard-negotiating Daniel Levy is likely to demand close to the £85.3m it took Real Madrid to prise Gareth Bale away from White Hart Lane.
£40m Rose is more of a priority for Guardiola, who wants to bring in two new full-backs at the end of the season.
Sunderland are bracing themselves for a bid for their goalkeeper Pickford, who has been watched on numerous occasions by City.
Wilshere is an intriguing option - and would be available at a reduced price as he enters the final year of his contract at Arsenal. The 25-yearold has enjoyed a relatively injury-free season on loan at Bournemouth and would fit in perfectly at the base of Guardiola’s midfield, with Yaya Toure and Fabien Delph potential departures. Tottenham right-back Walker, has also been linked with a move to the Etihad. “I would like English players because they know the league and that is much better,” said Guardiola.
PEP Guardiola has been given the backing to build for a long-term future at City - with the club believing he is preparing for the lengthiest managerial tenure of his career.
Guardiola signed a three-year contract last summer and has indicated he will wait until the final 12 months of that deal before deciding on an extension.
But there is a confidence that the size of the project he’s undertaken at the Etihad will prompt him to stay longer than the four years he spent at Barcelona and three at Bayern Munich.
His transfer recruitment policy is evidence of his intention to assemble a squad that will not realise its potential until beyond the current length of his contract.
He has settled quickly in Manchester, having embraced the city - and is enjoying living outside of the glare of the spotlight when away from football.
He regularly spends his downtime in and around the city centre and is comfortable knowing he can socialise with family and friends without being hassled by fans or media.
The signings of John Stones, Leroy Sane and Gabriel Jesus - with an average age of 20 - have typified his strategy of dramatically reducing the age of the squad he inherited from Manuel Pellegrini.
Monaco’s 18-year-old Kylian Mbappe was also targeted, while it is believed he gave his approval to the signings of Raheem Sterling and Kevin de Bruyne a year before taking charge.
He will be handed another transfer budget in the region of £200m in the summer, with as many as three defenders on his list of priorities.
Tottenham’s Danny Rose and Kyle Walker are both potential targets - with another of Spurs’ young stars Dele Alli, monitored.
The manner in which Sterling and Sane have blossomed - while Jesus made an immediate impact upon his January move from Palmeiras - has justified Guardiola’s faith in youth.
There is an acknowledgement, too, from City’s Abu Dhabi hierarchy that it will take time for Guardiola’s revolution to take shape. Despite the City manager publicly conceding the title, he revealed owner Sheikh Mansour had declared his delight at the campaign so far when they met for the first time last month.
Having pursued the 46-year-old for four years, City are now prepared to give him time to make his mark without the pressures applied to his predecessors. Key to that is his transfer policy. “My idea is to work for the mid-term and long-term,” said Guardiola. “We bought young players because we believe they have a lot of quality.
“We don’t buy players just because they are young. They have a lot of quality, and of course we can invest a lot of money.
“It’s because we expect them to be here for four, five, six, seven years and make their careers here at City. That is the reason why.
“But the first thing we are looking for is the potential, the quality. After that, okay, as young as possible.”
The academy is another area Guardiola wants to exploit, with emerging talents like Jadon Sancho potentially saving the club fortunes in transfer fees.
He added: “That’s why the club has worked with the academy for a long time to be thinking about the next years, with me, without me. Hopefully with me.
“I’d like to enjoy these four or five guys growing.”