Manchester City are reportedly set to hand Pep Guardiola a £150m transfer war-chest next year to allow him to continue to bolster his squad.
The Spanish tactician made significant additions to his group this past summer, with the likes of Claudio Bravo, John Stones, Ilkay Gundogan and Nolito all moving to Manchester.
It appears to be paying immediate dividends as they sit top of the Premier League table after seven games, while they suffered their first defeat in all competitions just this past weekend against Tottenham.
However, according to The Mirror, Guardiola will be given substantial transfer funds again next year to strengthen his squad further, and three individuals are on his shortlist.
Arsenal right-back Hector Bellerin is named in the report as a player that the City boss rates highly and is rated at £40m by the Mirror, while Guardiola is also said to remain interested in Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci who is valued at £60m.
Last but not least, Borussia Dortmund’s £50m-rated striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang completes the potential shopping list, with all three players in question undoubtedly capable of significantly increasing the level of quality in the City squad.
It also addresses key areas of the squad that need strengthening, with Guardiola dealing with a lack of depth up front behind Sergio Aguero and Kelechi Iheanacho.
Further, with doubts over Vincent Kompany’s ability to stay fit given his history of injury setbacks and with question marks over the current full-backs at the club due to age with the likes of Gael Clichy, Aleksandar Kolarov and Pablo Zabaleta all on the wrong side of 30, Guardiola will need to look at his defence more closely with long-term solutions in mind.
The Mirror add though that Arsenal are unlikely to be interested in even entertaining talk of a move for Bellerin, while Juve and Dortmund will undoubtedly be keen to keep hold of two pivotal players in their respective teams in Bonucci and Aubameyang.
In turn, it remains to be seen how successful Guardiola is with his transfer assault, with his more immediate focus on delivering success to City supporters this season.