Manchester City is essentially Pep Guardiola's demesne nowadays, with whatever he says goes at the Etihad. Reports today suggest he has told City's management of the players he wants to add to his already absurdly deep squad, and City's equally deep pockets mean that Pep is unlikely to be disappointed.
Reports across all of the English papers today claim that Guardiola has identified Alexis Sanchez and Virgil Van Dijk as key additions. Sanchez is expected to leave Arsenal at the end of this season, with City dangling a £400,000-a-week contract to tempt him from the Emirates. (This is presumably enough money to convince Sanchez to live in the north of England rather than London, having reportedly rejected Liverpool in 2014 as he wished to live in the English capital).
Elsewhere, Pep has figured out that Vincent Kompany cannot really be relied upon anymore, and so wants Virgil Van Dijk to replace him.
With Van Dijk, however, they are reportedly unlikely to chase a signature in January and instead wait until the summer, with Southampton's asking price around £60 million. But given that Van Dijk is not cup-tied for the Champions League, is out of favour again at St Mary's, and injury concerns about Kompany and John Stones, we wouldn't be massively surprised if the deal goes through next month.
So where does this leave Liverpool, Virgil's most ardent admirers? According to the very reliable Simon Hughes of the Independent, Liverpool are chasing a different centre-back: Basel's Swiss defender, Manuel Akanji.
At just 22, Akanji is a mainstay of Basel's defence, and Liverpool will face competition from Borussia Dortmund for his signature. Dortmund are particularly eager to sign him in January, but with Basel set to face Man City in the last 16 of the Champions League, the club are unlikely to sell in January. The fact that Liverpool may wait until the summer means they might be in a good position to pip Klopp's former team to his signing.
[The Guardian; The Independent]
