Man City boss Guardiola ‘chooses’ Premier League star to ‘get the Citizens out of crisis’
Man City boss Pep Guardiola is looking into the possibility of signing Everton centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite in January, according to reports.
The Citizens made a good start to the season under Guardiola but they have fallen apart in recent weeks with Man City recording just one win in their last 11 matches in all competitions.
It’s an unprecedented run of results for a Guardiola side and has Man City fans wondering when they will get out of this current slump after losing the Manchester Derby 2-1 to Man Utd on Sunday.
Man City face a tricky away trip to Aston Villa in their next fixture on Saturday and there are few encouraging signs that they will bounce back at Villa Park.
Guardiola confirmed on Friday that they will be without Ruben Dias – who is out for “three or four weeks” with a muscle injury – while Ballon d’Or winner Rodri will miss the rest of the season.
And Guardiola is keen for Man City to bring in reinforcements in the January transfer window with numerous names linked with a potential transfer to the Etihad Stadium.
Reports in Spain claim that Guardiola has ‘chosen’ the player he wants to ‘get Man City out of crisis’ with Everton defender Branthwaite identified.
With Man City going through a ‘surprising and worrying crisis’, the Premier League champions ‘desperately need to find solutions’ in January as they look to improve their position in the table.
Man City have been shipping more goals than usual this season and the report claims that ‘among the options that seem to convince the most’ is England defender Branthwaite.
The 22-year-old was the subject of bids from Man Utd over the summer but the Red Devils failed to meet Everton’s valuation of the centre-back.
And now the Toffees are ‘not prepared to allow Branthwaite to leave unless they receive an astronomical sum of more than 60 million euros in return’ as Man City seek a deal.
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Former Man Utd defender Wes Brown has been “surprised” by the way Man City have “dropped off” this season with the Citizens now nine points adrift of leaders Liverpool in the Premier League, while the Reds also have a game in hand on Guardiola’s side.
Brown told 10bet: “I think Man City, the way they’ve dropped off, that surprised me. When you get some big injuries that can happen, but it’s the speed of how quickly it’s happened.
“Again, I think they’ll be fine, but listen, they’ve had a massive drop over the last few weeks, and they need to get back to their old level. Obviously, Rodri’s absence hasn’t helped, and they’ve had a few other injuries.
“Sometimes, this kind of drop-off happens to teams that have been so successful. I don’t mean that in a bad way, but when you win so much, you can just lose a touch of focus and that’s look like what is happening at City.”
