The 2024/25 campaign is one Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are keen to leave behind.
Last season was a tough one for everyone associated with City, as Guardiola’s men went from winning four Premier League titles in a row to going the entire campaign without a trophy, while also needing to secure Champions League football heading into the final weekend.
As a result, Man City have already started their rebuild with AC Milan’s Tijjani Reijnders set for his medical on Sunday morning, everything is in place for the Premier League giants to sign Wolves’ Rayan Ait-Nouri, while the Manchester club continue to work on a deal for Lyon’s Rayan Cherki.
Once all three are complete, specifically the Cherki transfer, Fabrizio Romano shares who City will move for next, as Guardiola has another key area he would like to address.
Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Manchester City will look to sign a right-back next
Once Man City have completed the three deals they are currently working on ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup, Romano expects Guardiola to address the right-back position next.
When speaking about City’s current interest in Morgan Gibbs-White, Romano said on the Here We Go Podcast: “No, at the moment it is not advancing because of the situation with Cherki.
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“So basically, the situation from Manchester City was, let’s leave very expensive number 10 playmakers like Gibbs-White or Florian Wirtz, who wanted to go to Liverpool and let’s spend the money in a different way.
“So Tijjani Reijnders, Ait-Nouri, Rayan Cherki, I expect them now to look also for a right back because that’s also a possibility.”
Guardiola plans to use Matheus Nunes at right-back for the Club World Cup, but once that tournament is over, a right-back will be required as Kyle Walker is set to leave Man City over the coming weeks.
The Manchester club have several targets to replace the Englishman, however, the Premier League giants have hit a brick wall in their search.
Man City are struggling to find a new right-back
It was reported this week that Hugo Viana has hit a wall in his search for a new right-back for Man City as Newcastle don’t plan to sell Tino Livramento, while a move is yet to be made for Juventus’ Andrea Cambiaso, who are two top targets for Guardiola.
Last month, it was reported that Man City were keen on Flamengo’s Wesley, but nothing has materialised from that interest either, as it has become clear that the Manchester club have some doubts.
Player Games Goals Assists Minutes
Wesley Franca 23 1 2 1915
Tino Livramento 45 0 1 3459
Andrea Cambiaso 42 2 5 2895
Matheus Nunes 39 4 10 2680
Romano has also reported that Man City could sign a goalkeeper after the Club World Cup, but that is also an issue for the Premier League side, as it remains uncertain what will happen with Ederson.
Both positions need addressing before the new season gets underway, with right-back being the more urgent of the two, and whoever gets the role, that player has huge boots to fill after the success Walker had over the last eight years.