Manchester City are eyeing up top players from across Europe in the January transfer window, as Pep Guardiola looks to address the issues his side currently faces.
Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Manchester United compounded matters for Manchester City, with that result now leaving them nine points behind Liverpool in the Premier League, having played a game more. They've picked up just one win in their last 11 games in all competitions, too, highlighting how serious changes are needed.
And it seems like Guardiola will be allowed to make the changes necessary in the January transfer window, with a player he's worked with before at the top of his transfer shortlist.
Manchester City to reunited Guardiola with Joshua Kimmich
MUNICH, BAVARIA - APRIL 05: Josep Guardiola, head coach of Bayern Muenchen reacts with his player Joshua Kimmich during the UEFA Champions League quarter final first leg match between FC Bayern Muenchen and SL Benfica at Allianz Arena on April 5, 2016 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images) Manchester City
Kimmich and Guardiola together at Bayern(Image credit: Getty Images)
According to the Daily Star, Manchester City are eyeing up a January move for Joshua Kimmich, who Pep Guardiola managed to great effect at Bayern Munich in 2015/16.
Signed by the Catalan boss for €7m as a 20-year-old, Kimmich made 36 appearances in his first season in Bavaria, operating at centre-back, centre-midfield and right-back over the course of the campaign.
Munich, Germany - December 7: Joshua Kimmich of Bayern Muenchen controls the Ball during the Bundesliga match between FC Bayern München and 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 at Allianz Arena on December 7, 2024 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images) Manchester City target
Kimmich in action for Bayern(Image credit: Getty Images)
That verstaility could prove abundantly useful for Guardiola as he looks to turn things around at Manchester City, with issues in defence and midfield limiting his team so far this season. Kimmich could prove most useful at the base of midfield, however, with Rodri out injured for the rest of the season and the German extremely capable dictating play from a deeper position.
There's potential for Manchester City to sign Kimmich for much less than his £41.5m Transfermarkt valuation, too. With his Bayern Munich contract expiring at the end of the season, Kimmich is free to start speaking to clubs outside of Germany from January 1, ahead of signing a pre-contract agreement to move at the end of the season.
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With the risk of losing him for a free a very real possibility, Bayern could therefore look to cash in on the 29-year-old in January instead, with the aforementioned report suggesting as little as £10m could tempt the German giants into a sale.
In FourFourTwo's view, Kimmich seems like the perfect player Manchester City need right now to fix some of their problems. While we expect a fee of more than £10m is needed for a deal to go through, it'll still be a cheap price regardless.
Whether or not the diminutive star would want to leave his home country for Manchester is another issue entirely, especially when Bayern are back to dominating and City are struggling.