City spend big as they attempt to create team in Guardiola’s image

Pep Guardiola identifi ed the fullbacks as the problem area of his squad last season and has set about remedying that. So far that has meant the arrival of Benjamin Mendy from Monaco, Kyle Walker from Tottenham Hotspur and Danilo from Real Madrid. And he might not be done there.

The new faces have not come cheap. City broke the world record fee for a defender last week when they sealed a 50 million pound ($ 65 million) deal for Walker and then set a new bar with the 52 million pound transfer of Mendy. Danilo was a steal in comparison, costing a mere 26.5 million pounds.

Everyone knew Guardiola was in the market for fullbacks and City are not exactly short on cash. The need for reinforcements was compounded by the fact that three of the club’s senior fullbacks left this summer when their contracts expired and since then Alexander Kolarov, who had a year left on his contract, has followed Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna and Pablo Zabaleta through the exit.

Mendy will soon join his new club on their US tour, while Danilo is not expected to travel as he awaits for a work permit. The France international could make his debut against Danilo’s former club Real Madrid on Wednesday, if not when his new team face Walker’s old club Spurs three days later. Whenever he does make his bow, though, it will off er the fi rst look at Guardiola’s vision for his City side.

The days of stand- ins are over. No longer will City fans see Fernandinho or Eliaquim Mangala played out of position, as they did against Manchester United last week. Mendy and Walker are specialist fullbacks, while the more versatile Danilo can play on both the left and the right.

Fullbacks under Guardiola are expected to provide the team’s width and to get forward. He’s reported to have told the new signings of his high expectations of the role, and it being so physically demanding that they will be rotated through the season. That’s why he may still try to sign another out- andout left back before the season starts, and let Danilo and Walker rotate on the right.

For the fi rst 10 games of last season’s Premier League City were unstoppable. The fullbacks proved to be the weak link as the season went on, unable or unwilling to do what Guardiola demanded of them. His new signings may come with infl ated price tags but it could be seen as money well- spent next May.

Mendy was man of the match when his Monaco team came back from a two- goal defi cit to knock City out of the Champions League while Walker was bombing up and down the right fl ank when City were fi nally beaten in the league, losing 2- 0 to Spurs in October. Danilo, meanwhile, won the Champions League and La Liga with Real Madrid.

This is a City squad in Guardiola’s image. It is now his team and they will be expected to win a trophy sooner rather than later. With the fullback problem fi xed, the worries for the rest of the league are that it will be sooner.