DANI BOY FOR PEP
GUARDIOLA IS TARGETING ALVES AS HE SHORES UP CITY DEFENCE
PEP Guardiola has added Dani Alves to the list of four full-backs he wants to sign this summer. The City manager is determined to overhaul his defence – and identified the left and right-back positions as priorities. He believes the full-back areas are so critical to his plans that he is ideally looking to sign two players in each position as he embarks on dual challenges in the Premier League and Europe. Alves, who he knows well from his time at Barcelona, could be available at a cut price, with only one year to run on his contract at Juventus.
The 34-year-old Brazilian has been added to Guardiola’s wanted list, which also includes Kyle Walker, Benjamin Mendy and Ryan Bertrand.
City’s manager believes he needs four full-backs in order to rotate what is a key position in his team. After releasing Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna this summer, Guardiola knew a large part of his £300m budget would need to focus on replacements for that trio.
City have already signed Bernardo Silva and Ederson Moraes this summer for a combined fee of around £75m.
Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez is a £50m target, while Guardiola has yet to rule out a move for Monaco forward Kylian Mbappe valued in excess of £100m.
Pep will give full attention to full-backs: See City Special, Pages 46-47