Pep Guardiola tipped to address crucial Man City issue in January after key blow

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Man City will reportedly target a new centre-half in January following the injury blow suffered by key figure Aymeric Laporte this past week.

As confirmed by the club, the 25-year-old underwent surgery on his knee after suffering the setback against Brighton last time out, and it’s noted that the procedure was a success.

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While that’s positive news, it’s still a concern for Pep Guardiola as he’ll have to cope without the influential defensive ace in the coming months and it remains to be seen when Laporte is deemed fully fit to return to action.

According to The Sun, Man City are being tipped to address the problem in January with a new signing, as Guardiola currently has Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones as his only natural defensive options in that department.

It comes after influential captain Vincent Kompany left the club this past summer, and so with no replacement arriving to fill that void, it’s now going to test the depth of the Man City squad and perhaps even the versatility of some players to slot in and give Guardiola an additional option in the heart of the backline.

Time will tell how they cope and what solutions Guardiola comes up with until January, but the report suggests that a new signing is possible in the New Year and that would seem like the sensible strategy as Laporte may need time to ease back into the side, assuming he steers clear of any setbacks in his recovery.

It also remains to be seen how that affects the Premier League title race, as pundit Gary Neville told Sky Sports at the time of Laporte’s setback that it could prove to be a costly blow for the reigning champions and that in turn could tip the title in Liverpool’s favour even at this early stage of the campaign.

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