Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is reportedly set on signing homegrown English players, and he has three Tottenham players in his sights.
The Spaniard will have to significantly strengthen his squad this summer, as ultimately City have fallen short of their usual lofty expectations this season while there is an ageing group of players that must be replaced sooner rather than later.
As reported by the Manchester Evening News, Guardiola is keen to bolster the number of homegrown players in his squad, with Danny Rose, Kyle Walker and Dele Alli all said to be on his transfer radar.
Further, it’s claimed that Rose is likely to be the most realistic target with a price-tag of around £40m, although Alli will cost significantly more and could even come close to breaking the record transfer fee for a British player set by Gareth Bale.
Add Walker and Sunderland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford to the mix, and it’s claimed that Guardiola is keen to revamp the look of his squad and will spend around £200m on making it happen this summer.
Currently, only John Stones and Raheem Sterling are the English stars making a real impact for City this season, and from that perspective, it seems to make sense as to why Guardiola might prioritise the four players named above.
Nevertheless, it won’t be as simple as just throwing money at Tottenham, as Mauricio Pochettino will be quietly confident that given he’s building something special at White Hart Lane, he’ll be able to convince the trio to not jump ship and join their direct rivals.
Further, there is no indication that the players are interested in the move as of yet, and with so many top Tottenham stars signing long-term contracts this season, including the trio in question, Guardiola might find it difficult to execute his preferred strategy.
It may well have worked for him in Germany with Bayern Munich as the Bavarian giants made a habit of signing players for rivals Borussia Dortmund, but it promises to be a much more difficult task in England.