Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City desperately need a new centre-back if they are to reclaim their Premier League title.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is desperate to bring in a new defender during the January transfer window, according to BleacherReport, but he might have to be content with a short-term loan move as the Premier League champions look to avoid breaking the bank.
City might be one of the richest clubs in the game but, even at the Etihad, they cannot just throw money around like a particularly obnoxious kid in a sweet shop.
Guardiola admitted that his side could not match Manchester United in the race for Harry Maguire (Mail), who went on to join the Old Trafford giants for a world-record £80 million fee.
And considering that no one wants to lose their star defender in January, Man City are fully aware that their winter targets, which reportedly include Benfica’s Ruben Dias, will not come cheap.
As such, BleacherReport claims that the North West powerhouses could look to secure a short-term signing on loan to tide them over until the end of the season – or until Aymeric Laporte returns to full fitness.
Dias, who was the best player on the pitch in Portugal’s Nations League final victory over Holland and possesses the kind of supreme technical ability Guardiola loves, has a release clause worth £60 million in his contract.
That will rise to £80 million if Benfica tie him down to a new deal (The Sun). If City weren’t willing to pay that for Maguire, it seems unlikely that Dias will be wearing the sky blue shirt any time soon.
Now, City will be hoping to find a defender both good enough for Guardiola and available on a short-term deal. There can’t be many options out there, surely.
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