Pep Guardiola has a technically diverse squad filled with wonderful attacking options at his disposal, but if it is deficient in one area it is at full back. Not necessarily deficient in a numerical sense; most coaches would love to have Bacary Sagna, Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy and Aleksandar Kolarov to choose from. However, with a combined age of 125, it is an area of the squad that will need overhauling sooner rather than later.
The favourite word in Guardiola’s parlance is ‘intensity’, a virtue that all four of those players are losing rather than gaining. The former Barcelona manager also wants his full backs to do very specific, and at times unorthodox, jobs. Zabaleta and Sagna have forged fine careers as rugged, non-nonsense defenders and as the saying goes, it is hard to teach old dogs new tricks.
With this in mind, several reports emerged that City were sounding out a possible move for 21-year-old Arsenal right back Hector Bellerin. The Spaniard has the youth, pace and technical ability to make him an obvious candidate for the job. He is a also a former Barcelona youth product, which links him to Guardiola, as well as City officials Tixi Begiristain and Ferran Soriano. However, despite the fact he only has two years remaining on his current deal at the Emirates, the deal could be a hard one to pull off. Arsenal will not want to sell to a Premier League rival, and have a chequered history in dealings with City. We suggested three alternatives City could target.