Pep Guardiola not looking to add to Manchester City’s defensive depth
HAPPY WITH HIS LOT: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola does not believe his side need defensive re-enforcements. Pic: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire
Pep Guardiola does not believe Manchester City need to add defensive depth in the remaining days of the transfer window despite injuries limiting his options at the back.
Nathan Ake is expected to miss Saturday’s Premier League match against Crystal Palace after suffering a groin injury against Newcastle last weekend, joining Aymeric Laporte – not due back for several weeks after knee surgery – on the sidelines.
Ruben Dias and John Stones are in line to start, but with teenager Luke Mbete also likely to be out after suffering a concussion in the midweek friendly against Barcelona, Guardiola has little back-up on the bench.
Even so, the City boss said he was not looking for reinforcements this week, with City’s transfer business thought to be done after Guardiola ruled out an exit for Bernardo Silva.
“Right now we have a problem with central defenders without Nathan and Aymi – we have just two, and hopefully Aymi will come back soon,” he said. “When you have many in the same position, it’s difficult. We try to avoid it but sometimes it happens.
“We thought about (signings) but Nathan is coming back soon, at the end of September or early October Aymi will be back too. I am happy with that. Maybe we will wake up in the morning and think we should buy a central defender, but we’re not thinking about that.” Guardiola insisted he knew nothing of reports linking Mbete with a loan move, but admitted it was a possibility to give the 18-year-old more first-team experience.
“(Mbete) got a concussion in Barcelona and we are looking forward to seeing him but maybe the club is going to do (send him on loan), I don’t know,” he said.
“Maybe he needs to play regularly to be ready to play with us, go on loan like for example Macca (James McAtee) or Liam Delap – it’s important for them to play regularly.” However, he insisted Cole Palmer – also linked with a loan move in some quarters – would not be going anywhere.
“Cole, it’s not going to happen because we count on him but the rest, it’s better for the club and for players themselves to see whether they can play with us. The gap from academy to first team is so big in terms of competition every weekend… “(Palmer’s) position is one step forward from the other ones. All the other guys can play with us but we decide sometimes on loan, sometimes here and Cole has a special quality.
“He was injured but now feels good, played really well in Barcelona and can play two or three different positions with no problem.” Saturday’s visit of Palace could mean another testing day for Kyle Walker, who was given a stern examination by Allan Saint-Maximin in last weekend’s 3-3 draw at Newcastle as the Frenchman registered two assists and won the free-kick from which Kieran Trippier got the Magpies’ other goal.
This weekend it will be the turn of Wilfried Zaha to try his luck against City’s England right-back.
“He is light on his feet and the speed of his feet is right up there,” Walker said of Zaha. “It is going to be a very difficult match. I have played against Wilf a lot of times and hopefully I can come out on top.
“I probably gave Saint-Maximin too many actions at the start of the game which got his confidence up. It is all about the mind and these players play with confidence. It is down to us as full-backs to make sure their confidence is low, we can get on top of them and be a little bit aggressive.”
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