Which of these Manchester City stars are most under threat by Pep Guardiola’s arrival?

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Out: Eliaquim Mangala

Eliaquim Mangala simply hasn’t lived up to expectation at Manchester City. In his debut he looked fantastic, giving City fans so much hope. In a 1-1 with the fearsome Chelsea of 2014/15, he came on and showed his pace, aerial strength, and ability to bully forwards right away. It was a baptism of fire and he had come out completely unscathed. Yet his next match just six days later was more indicative of his time at the club. He scored an own goal and conceded a penalty, showing everyone that he had a knack for massive mental lapses. At times, he shows what potential he holds just by being the perfect physical specimen for a professional centre-back, but his mind just isn’t there. He makes terrible decisions constantly and plays with no confidence in his ability on and off the ball. Though he’s currently injured, it’s obvious that Pellegrini feels more comfortable with the ancient Demichelis at the back. As much as City fans would have loved to see the Mangala experiment pan out, it simply hasn’t and the Frenchman will most likely be sold in the summer since Mangala has shown no improvement overall since joining. City fans wish him all the best in his career but he’s simply not up to the standard to make it in Manchester.

In: John Stones / Aymeric Laporte / Jason Denayer / Marquinhos

Guardiola will certainly be looking to shore up what is undoubtedly the weakest part of the City side, the defence. It is unclear to say whether Kompany will play a big part in the manager’s plans. His injury troubles are concerning and he’s not the youngest player considering he’ll be thirty years old by the time the Spaniard gets to Manchester. With that being said, Guardiola does inherit two quality options in Otamendi and Jason Denayer. Many thought Denayer was ready for first-team football in a blue shirt this year, but with Mangala fooling everyone with a stellar performance against Chelsea at the beginning of the campaigb, Denayer was sent out on loan to Galatasaray. He hasn’t enjoyed the most spectacular spell in Turkey but he’s still done well considering an injury, a new coach, and being played out of position. Denayer has all the physical qualities to excel, and in his few early season performances for City he showed mental stability and maturity. Pep has been known to bring through youth players and bringing through Denayer would be the cheapest and most holistically fulfilling option.

John Stones is obviously one of the hottest prospects in world football, and it only adds to his value that he is considered homegrown. He seems to be in the mold of a Guardiola-esque centre back with his penchant for playing out of the back and comfort on the ball. The only issue here is that since everyone knows City have deep pockets, Everton will most likely try to squeeze every penny out of the deal if they were to sell their young star. Stones reportedly handed in a transfer request at the tail end of the summer transfer window so he’s keen on a move, it’s just a matter of whether the price would be reasonable.

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Aymeric Laporte is another young footballing prospect that is spoken of quite frequently. He’s shown potential while playing for Bilbao this season, garnering attention from many top European clubs. The only problem is that Bilbao have set his release clause at 42 million euros, a hefty price for a young relatively unproven defender. Laporte’s stats this season don’t necessarily shine a positive light in terms of how he would fit into a Pep system. He’s received seven cards for bad tackles, and only completed 79% of his 777 passes in La Liga. The young frenchman’s pass completion rate is the worst of the four defenders within this list of potential options. Between Laporte, Stones, Denayer, and Marquinhos, he only tops the charts once for most interceptions at 48.

A slightly better option might be Marquinhos, who completed a staggering 94% of his 885 passes in ligue 1, 674 of those were forward passes. The 21-year-old Brazilian has talked about a move away from the French capital in order to further his career, one to certainly look out for.