CITY Forward-thinking Pep wants another striker

CITY have added to their already formidable firepower this summer by bringing in Bernardo Silva and two attacking full-backs.

They have the best frontline in the league with options that any other club would surely trade in an instant if they could.

But Pep Guardiola still has a big problem.

Much of last season was spent talking about City’s deficiencies in the boxes – where football games are won and lost – and the Blues boss remains unsatisfied with their efforts up front despite a winning start to the season.

Asked if he had seen the desired improvement from his side, he replied bluntly: “In Brighton, no. Against Tottenham, no.”

City beat Spurs 3-0 in pre-season and overcame Brighton 2-0 at the weekend in their Premier league opener. Those scorelines hardly suggest reason for worry and do indicate improvement in defence, something the manager has previously acknowledged. Yet he still wants more. The obvious solution would be an external one.

Having asked for ‘something more’ following their last warm-up game Guardiola is still keen to bring in another forward, and Alexis Sanchez and Kylian Mbappe remain targets.

There was a nod to the work of City’s domestic and European rivals when the manager was asked about signing goals – something he called for earlier in the year.

“When all the big clubs around the world buy players, for example PSG buy Neymar, United buy Lukaku, it is to score goals. Every manager in the world tries to get a striker to score goals.”

Such public comments will keep the pressure on Txiki Begiristain and City’s owners to bring in another player.

It would be odd, given the money the Blues have willingly spent in this window, were they to risk spending another season talking about missed chances and dropped points because there had not been enough improvements in the right areas.

However, aware that both transfer targets are not certain to join the club, Guardiola is also demanding more from the players he already has to give him what he wants.

“I have enough good players in front so just relax and score goals,” he said.

“I have two amazing strikers, two number nines in Gabriel and Sergio.

“I have Leroy [Sane] who can score a lot of goals. Kevin de Bruyne, he is a guy who scores score 15 goals.

“Last season he hit the post 22 times. Scoring just half of those will allow him to take a step forward.”

At least until August 31, City’s profligacy is an issue that does not look like going away for Guardiola.