After the biggest embarrassment in recent Manchester City history and one of the biggest embarrassments of Pep Guardiola’s career, with his defence almost entirely to blame, The Mirror claim that the Spaniard is looking to improve his defence with the signing of Danny Rose from Tottenham for a fee in the region of £25 million.
City were linked with a move for Rose early in the summer but were said to be prepared to only pay up to £12 million, and Guardiola has not been convinced by the full-backs he has on offer, with none of his options there in the first team squad younger than 31-years-old. Whilst the ex-Bayern Munich manager has tried to convert Aleksander Kolarov into a central defender, Pablo Zabaleta has been trialed in a holding midfield role and neither Bacary Sagna or Gael Clichy have enjoyed regular first team football. Rose could be the solution.
The 26-year-old has kept five clean sheets as part of Spurs defensive unit, adding in a goal and an assist in the Premier League too, and has also reinforced his position as England’s first choice left-back this campaign. With Spurs lagging behind the top four and with the ex-Leeds youth product being one of their star players, Mauricio Pochettino will be more than aware that a failure to secure Champions League football could put Rose’s White Hart Lane future in jeopardy.
Playing three at the back at the Etihad has been an interesting experiment for Guardiola but has failed to convince, with seven goals conceded in the last two Premier League games and no clean sheets in their last eight games in all competitions. Should he look to opt for a formation more similar to that seen in his Barcelona and Bayern Munich side’s, attacking full-backs with pace are a vital part of that and Rose would fit the model perfectly, whilst offering more defensive strength than the likes of Jordi Alba.
Tottenham will not give Rose up easily, he has become one of their most important players and is part of the English core of their squad, but he would represent the perfect signing for City. With the added bonus of homegrown status for squad registration purposes, Rose would allow Guardiola to set up his defence in a way to add more strength and also provide extra cover whilst the likes of John Stones continue to develop.
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