Manchester City: Eyes on Transfers

Incoming Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola had his eyes on some top talent to snap up in his new role as England took on Germany.

With the international break well under way, it’s time for some healthy Manchester City transfer rumours which, following the depressing results we’ve seen recently, should provide a glimmer of light at the end of a very dark tunnel. I confess, I normally stay clear of these. Incoming manager Pep Guardiola has been linked to just about every high profile player in football today. He’s the manager they want to play under and City are the team with the money to sign them. Put the two together and boom, we have wanton speculation to make up for the lack of actual content to write about.

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In this case though there appears to be a bit more to the rumour than hearsay, creative inventiveness or wishful thinking. While we were watching one of the more satisfying England games, coming back from 2-0 down to beat Germany (Germany!) 3-2 with the winner in the 91^st minute, some in the ground were watching a different game entirely.

It seems Manchester City were one of three clubs, including Liverpool and Chelsea, keeping a close eye on German and Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels during the game and are expected to form a bidding war for the skipper. As reported by The Express:

"“Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea are all eyeing the German defender as a potential big money recruit this summer.Pep Guardiola has already indicated he would like the Borussia Dortmund skipper as a possible replacement for the injury troubled Vincent Kompany when he takes over at The Etihad. Or, indeed, just to bolster City’s defence next season…Hummels has also been the cornerstone of Borussia’s recent successes.As it stands, a guaranteed first team place at Anfield with his old mentor, rather than a possible stand-in role at Manchester City, would probably be the 28-year-old German’s first choice.”"

It goes without saying that City’s defence, particularly without Kompany, have been porous this year. Of course, Kompany has been gone more than not with a continually recurring calf injury, now likely to ensure he’s not seen in a sky blue shirt for the rest of the season. If at all.

Hummels would present a solid, reliable fallback option. The only question is whether he would be willing to play second fiddle to Kompany or if he’d take the chance to join his old manager Jurgen Klopp at a Liverpool perhaps more desperately in need of his stability than City. Regardless the interest is there and for good reason, if Pep wants to make a splash in his inaugural year then a retooled defence is essential and the midfield shouldn’t be far behind.

With that in mind, it seems City had another player in their sights in last nights game, one Toni Kroos. According to Marca, the Real Madrid player is in fact Guardiola’s top target ahead even of the previously rumoured Ilkay Gundogan. Of course, there’s a good reason for that, Kroos is head and shoulders above Gundogan and likely among the most sought-after, if not the best, attacking midfielders around and has attracted interest from teams like City and United for years.

Gave a good accounting of himself last night too, scoring an absolute belter from outside the box back when we actually were worrying if this wasn’t going to be England’s day (again).  The 26 year old looked threatening throughout and displayed his famous, impeccable passing accuracy. So have at you Pep, I’m sure no Citizens will have any issues with this one.

Honestly it seems to be me unlikely that Guardiola won’t have the werewithall to have a run at both and more besides. City ownership hasn’t brought on board the most prolific manager in the World to withhold from him the ability to shape the team as he sees fit. Clearly the game plan was always to transform Manchester City into a global franchise and force able to compete with the best of them, winning the Champions League included. That takes money, lots of money, but City have it in abundance.

My gut tells me that Kroos is a long shot and that’s why Gundogan is so heavily rumoured as a fallback. Hummels may have a personal preference for Anfield, but that’s all at Dortmund’s discretion and the price may end up being too much for FSG to cough up on just one player. That being the case, I could forsee a scenario where Hummels is playing in a sky blue shirt next year, even if that is only as an insurance for a fitness-struggling Kompany.

Next: Manchester City - De Bruyne ahead of schedule

Either which way, what’s important here is that Pep has no intention of resting on his laurels. He’s intending to transform the team from day one and, honestly, he needs to. Ultimately these are just more rumours to throw on the trashpile of speculative press, but they still, if nothing else, still provide that glimmer of light at the end of a very dark tunnel for Citizens. For that, it’s worth it.