Manchester City will “obviously” need to sign a player in one position this summer, admits Pep Guardiola | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has claimed Manchester City will “obviously” need to look for a new signing in one particular area of his squad during the summer transfer market.

Hugo Viana and Txiki Begiristain are currently in the process of planning the club’s next moves ahead of a summer window that many believe will be a busy window for Manchester City both in the way of incomings and outgoings from the first-team squad.

The aforementioned Portuguese official started work full-time at the Etihad Stadium offices earlier this month as he prepares to take on Begiristain’s role as director of football permanently from this summer.

And given the performances of the current Manchester City squad throughout the ongoing season, there is believed to be plenty of work to do including the mammoth task of replacing Kevin De Bruyne in the heart of the team’s creative output.

Speaking to the media recently, Pep Guardiola was asked whether there is a specific number of players in mind when it comes to how much work Manchester City will need to do in the way of incomings into the first-team squad this summer.

“No idea. Really. No no, it’s true, no idea. All the players are contracted, we’ll see what happens. No idea,” Guardiola insisted.

One area of the squad consistently failed to be addressed over the course of several summer markets is the left-back position, and given the struggles in terms of personnel this season, Pep Guardiola offered a clear response when asked whether it is a ‘priority’ for the summer.

“Obviously. Nico (O’Reilly) is helping us, but he’s not a left-back. That’s true. I played with Alex Zinchenko at left-back, Fabian Delph at left-back. We found solutions in many, many years, and with other qualities they help us,” Guardiola admitted.

“Alex and Fabian for example, or sometimes Rico (Lewis) when I play the full-backs left, they help us massively. But yeah, of course we don’t have… of course we can have Nathan (Ake), but Nathan – like John Stones – has been injured all season,” he continued.

“The most important thing is, from my point of view, I said to the club, which players are reliable for the future. You cannot perform if you are not reliable, you are injured.

“This is which players that we have, they can play every three days, three days, three days or cannot play every three days, three days. Since then, build a squad for the next season.”

Manchester City have been linked with a number of full-back solutions in recent months, and the latest of the names to emerge currently stars in the Premier League, with Tottenham’s Destiny Udogie named as a player that is admired within the Etihad.

However, having first identified the defender as a primary target during the recent January transfer window, it is widely believed that attentions will first centre on Juventus and Italy’s Andrea Cambiaso.