Manchester City are interested in signing a centre-back this summer and have not given up in their pursuit of Leicester City defender Harry Maguire.
According to a report from the Daily Star, the Sky Blues will have to ship out Eliaquim Mangala and Nicolas Otamendi in order to comply with Financial Fair Play rules and vacate some space in squad if they are serious about landing Maguire this summer.
Pep Guardiola and co. also face stiff competition from local city rivals Manchester United who have also been strongly linked with Maguire.
The 26-year-old who moved to King Power Stadium from Hull City back in 2017, and has had an immensely successful spell at Leicester so far, and is valued at £80 million.
Maguire managed 32 appearances last season, and is currently one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League thanks to his consistent performances.
What should be Pep’s play here?
Guardiola has a reputation to put his faith in youngsters and mould them into the stars of tomorrow.
With four centre-backs from the senior squad and young talents in Eric Garcia and Taylor Harwood-Bellis at his disposal, there is no actual crisis to splash big money on Maguire.
The Sky Blues have a good business model and paying outrageous chunks of money for a centre-back will upset their transfer books.
Overpaying for a player, despite having many alternative options available also doesn’t sound like the kind of business the Manchester-based outfit would prefer, as the club’s hierarchy are known for spending money only when there is the absolute necessity, like they did with Aymeric Laporte.
One could raise an argument that both Otamendi and Mangala are past their prime, especially the Frenchman who has been on two loan spells ever since the Spanish manager’s arrival in England.
To deal with this problem, Mangala who has one year left on his contract, needs to be sold and perhaps the club can target a younger player to slowly integrate into the first team instead of splashing the cash for Maguire.
Otamendi, who turned 31 years of age early in the year, has also shown signs of decline in the last year. Despite that, The Argentine still provides a decent bench option and can do the job for Guardiola’s side whenever called upon.
It’s no doubt that Maguire is one of the best options available in the market and is highly likely to fill the big boots of the veteran Kompany like no other seeing his similar style of play and excellent leadership skills.
However, his price tag would bore an unnecessary risk and would bring along the pressure to play him regularly which might backfire, seeing there is no definite chance of him succeeding in the Guardiola’s system.