A new defensive target has seemingly emerged for Manchester City | OneFootball

Manchester City continued the rebuild of their squad last summer. As new players arrived at the club, club heroes and legends departed. Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne, Manuel Akanji, Jack Grealish, and Ederson all left City during the summer. While it was sad to see them depart, it is part of the process that eventually time would fall on such prestigious City careers. That process will likely continue next summer. Centre-backs Nathan Ake and John Stones are prime candidates to leave City at the end of the 25/26 season. If they did leave City, they’d need to be replaced.

Manchester City are reportedly set to rival Liverpool to sign Marc Guehi.

John Cross has reported for The Mirror that Manchester City are set to compete with Liverpool to sign Marc Guehi for free at the end of this season. Furthermore, Cross reports that there is little chance of Guehi leaving Crystal Palace during the January transfer window. Cross further reports that Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich,  Chelsea and Juventus are all interested in signing the England international. Lastly, Cross reports that Manchester City are strong admirers of Guehi as a player.

A City move for Marc Guehi does make sense if Stones or Ake leave the club.

Marc Guehi has firmly established himself as one of the top centre-backs in the Premier League. His strong form for both club and country has seen him earn rave reviews for his play. Guehi is also a leader, and his leadership qualities would be a welcome addition to Pep Guardiola’s squad. The fact that he is available on a free transfer at the end of this season does make him a prime candidate for a club like Manchester City to sign. But they’ll face competition to sign Guehi, as mentioned above.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see City in the market for another centre-back next summer. John Stones and Nathan Ake look to be at the end of their City careers. Both players have a role to play this season for Pep Guardiola’s side. But questions remain over their durability, and City do have Vitor Reis and Juma Bah out on loan this season. It would be expected that one of Bah and Reis would be first-team players for City next season. So one of them would replace one of Ake or Stones. Signing an experienced centre-back like Guehi would cover the loss of Stones or Ake which makes a City move for the Crystal Palace a no-brainer, especially if both of Ake and Stones leave City next summer.

Manchester City look set to rival Liverpool and other clubs to sign Marc Guehi next summer. It is a move that makes sense and it now remains to be seen if City can sell their vision to Guehi to entice him to join Pep Guardiola’s squad.