Pep has decisions to make – and quickly!
CITY have moved quickly to secure Ferran Torres and Nathan Ake for next season to improve Pep Guardiola’s squad.
And while a deal for Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly is not close, the matter is in hand.
City’s interest in the player is concrete and the respective valuations from the two far clubs are not so far apart as to be unbridgeable.
Given the fallout from the Blues not paying the extra £10m needed to sign Harry Maguire last summer, it is hard to imagine City will not make any necessary compromises this year to land their target.
Another central defender will determine whether the club’s transfer window is seen as successful or not.
With no strong interest in a midfielder following David Silva’s departure and a forward looking unlikely, it is the extent of the strengthening at the back that will define this summer for Txiki Begiristain.
If the pursuit of new faces is progressing well, City now need to turn their attention to the squad players that will leave this summer.
The impact of the pandemic leaves clubs short of time, particularly those that have been involved in matches for as long as Guardiola’s side have.
Normally, when this close to a new season, there would already have been close to two months to have all the discussions that were necessary to decide who will stay and go and then begin the process of acting on those instructions.
This year, it is a week since the Blues returned from Lisbon after their Champions League duty and yet there is still much to address in the squad. Technically, the window remains open until October, but no team wants to wait until a month into the season before finalising their squad.
Attack, midfield and goalkeeping departments are all more or less there, but it is in defence where the work needs to be done.
There are six players whose position iseems secure - Kyle Walker, Joao Cancelo, Fernandinho, Aymeric Laporte, Ake, and Benjamin Mendy with Koulibaly or a similar signing bringing that to seven.
Guardiola had 10 defenders in his squad last season, and there are seven further players whose futures remain unclear.
Decisions must be made on John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi, who have regressed over the last year, while Eric Garcia’s fate lies in the hands of Barcelona’s transfer kitty.
Aleks Zinchenko also had a disappointing season, failing to build on starting the campaign as the club’s first-choice left-back, although he remains an asset that would be highly desired elsewhere.
Napoli and Wolves have both offered very good money for him in previous windows.
Angelino and Tosin Adarabioyo need to know promptly how they figure in Guardiola’s plans. Neither player has given up hope of making it at the Etihad but would rather sort out a good move at another top-flight team if they are to be overlooked again.
There is also Taylor Harwood-Bellis from the academy, who integrated with the first team last year.
City may not have the luxury of time this summer, but having moved quickly to add to the squad, they must now take steps to decide on outgoings.