Pep Guardiola explains frantic Marc Guehi move as Manchester City agree £20M deal | OneFootball

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has detailed how injuries in defence and a lack of reliable stand-in options forced the club to rethink their January transfer strategy.

City reached an agreement with Crystal Palace for the signing of England international Marc Guehi on Friday, with the 25-year-old centre-half set to undergo a medical on Sunday before he puts pen to paper on a five-and-a-half year deal at the Etihad Stadium.

Guehi will become Manchester City’s second signing in January after Antoine Semenyo, who has made a blistering start to life in the north-west after scoring twice and providing an assist in his first two games in sky blue – since his £64 million arrival from Bournemouth last week.

Injuries to Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol in City’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea earlier this month saw the club recall academy graduate Max Alleyne from loan at Watford, with the 20-year-old impressing in three consecutive starts against Brighton, Exeter City and Newcastle in the last two weeks.

However, City need additional cover at the back as Nathan Ake and John Stones, who is still recovering from a leg injury he sustained in early December, have concerning fitness records and are expected to leave the club permanently in the summer.

Executives at the Etihad Stadium quickly identified Guehi as the perfect candidate to bolster Guardiola’s prospects in defence for the second half of the season, with Manchester City competing for silverware on four fronts.

Despite a belief in some quarters that Guehi preferred to join one of Liverpool or Arsenal over City – whilst wanting to see out the last six months of his Crystal Palace contract, so as to gain a major signing-on bonus at his next club – the Blues have now won the race for the sought-after defender to plug a major loophole in their ranks.

Speaking in a press conference ahead of Saturday’s Manchester derby, Guardiola was quizzed on whether how injuries to Dias and Gvardiol forced City to rethink their January transfer strategy.

“What I thought? We are in trouble! That was my first thought,” Guardiola said on Friday afternoon. “But that’s why we loaned the option to recover players and we thought, because I knew Max (Alleyne) from training two years with us, and of course he still has a big, big margin to improve.

“But in general, comparing the – not training sessions because we don’t have training sessions – video, how quick he got the things is really, really good.”

Guardiola refused to comment specifically on a deal in place to sign Guehi but provided a wider comment on how the tide shifted for City after injuries to Dias and Gvardiol.

“We transferred for the fact to bring back Max (Alleyne). The rest, we’ll see. Normally when you sign a player it’s not just for the three months, two months, it’s for years. And after the club has to decide this is the player for years,” the Catalan added.

“When we brought (Antoine) Semenyo, because we’ve had problems from the wingers from day one and the chance that maybe we could do it and the club can afford it for the release close. So Antoine came for years, not coming to solve a short problem.

“And this is the best way. So when you have injuries, like what happened now in one department like in central defenders, they don’t come for just until the players come back.

“Last season for example, (Abdukodir) Khusanov or Vitor (Reis) – especially Khusanov – came from 21 years old for many, many years. So that is the reason why.”

Guehi is scheduled to undergo a Manchester City medical this weekend and the Ivory Coast star will be keeping a close eye on how his upcoming teammates get on in a crucial derby meeting with Manchester United on Saturday afternoon.