Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola
Manchester City are busy. Khaldoon Al Mubarak was not lying when he said none of the recruitment team were going on their holidays after the end of the Premier League campaign because there has been plenty of activity in the market.
City are closing in on three signings to immediately strengthen their first team squad, with deals agreed for defender Rayan Ait Nouri (£33.7m) and midfielder Tijjani Reijnders (£46.3m). There is also an expectation that they will sign Lyon playmaker Rayan Cherki, with the clubs negotiating over a final price after the player himself admitted the move will happen.
It should lift the Blues instantly for the Club World Cup, bolstering the midfield as well as providing a specialist left-back - something City have not had for years. It also may not be the last business that the club do as they look to freshen up a squad under Pep Guardiola that lost some key fundamentals last season as they went without a major trophy.
As City prepare for their summer tournament though, with the first game under two weeks away, one key position remains unstrengthened. Kyle Walker will be not be part of the group ahead of his exit, yet there are no signs that a right-back is coming in.
Tino Livramento has been mooted as a target, but it is hard to see Newcastle selling for anything other than a monumental fee. Their strategy this summer appears aimed at keeping the talent they have as much as expanding further as they prepare for another year in the Champions League, so they do not necessarily need to sell as much as they may have done previously.
Other than that, there hasn't really been much chatter about a right-back with Liverpool allowed a free run to Jeremie Frimpong. If one pops up, it will be out of the blue.
There's a good chance then that the position will remain up for grabs for the foreseeable future, and if that is the case it will be interesting to see how Guardiola views it. City's success in the final few months of the season came from makeshift right-back Matheus Nunes using his pace and physicality to bomb down the right wing and put crosses into the box.
Nunes has every right to fancy his chances of staying in favour, while Rico Lewis is arguably the best mix of attack and defence. Then there are a myriad of centre-back options, with John Stones, Manu Akanji and Abdukodir Khusanov having all played there before.
Which path Guardiola takes, and how right-back is affected by the arrival of Ait-Nouri, may differ for each game but a pattern will emerge and there will become a favoured option for the manager in that position again. Unless something significant changes, that option looks like already being in the squad for the Club World Cup where anyone can make a claim for the starting spot.
Content Image
Content Image
---
Here at the Manchester Evening News, we’re dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester City coverage and analysis.
Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.
You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.
*And finally, if you’d rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Talking City podcast. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and you can also watch along on YouTube.*