Guardiola targets three players for Manchester City - UK reports
With the Premier League retained, and an historic domestic treble on the cards, the Citizens are already looking for reinforcements, says the Mail.
Pep Guardiola's Manchester City retained the Premier League title on Sunday and will head into this Saturday's FA Cup final against Watford as clear favourites. If they do go on to lift the iconic trophy, that wil complete an unprecedented domestic treble in England, however, the Spanish coach is already looking at how to improve his record-breaking squad for the seasons ahead.
Pep's improvement plan for City
There's a well known phrase in business that says if you're standing still then you're actually moving backwards, applied to football in the sense of those clubs who rest on their laurels, not planning for future improvement. Man City can certainly not be accused of that in recent seasons and this is unlikely to stop now, despite finishing with a total of 98 points in the league, only ever bettered by the previous season's centurions.
The City squad is generally regarded as one of, if not the best in world football, but a continued failure to capture European glory means there remains a focus on reaching new heights. According to the UK tabloid, the Daily Mail, there are three names that have already been identified as targets for the summer: Rodrigo Hernández, Matthijs de Ligt and Houssem Aouar.
Rodrigo Hernández has a release clause of 70 million euros, and his outstanding performances in his first season at Atlético Madrid has put him on the radar of several of Europe's elite. AS reported recently that Rodrigo's intention was to stay with Diego Simeone and be part of a fresh project at the Wanda Metropolitano, however, the Mail believes City will attempt to persuade the player to make the switch.
For ever more creative options, and to mitigate the potential departure of Gundogan, the report states that the Manchester club has eyes on Aouar, the Olympique Lyon midfielder. The 20-year old faced the English side in the group stage of the Champions League and is apparently a Pep Guardiola desire.
At the back, the newspaper claims that City want to see the highly-rated Ajax man in their sky blue colours. De Ligt is almost certain to leave the impressive young Dutch side in the coming weeks. As we understand it, however, Barcelona are in pole position to land the signing of the 19-year old (read about that here), which is therefore likely to have attention focused on Leicester City's Harry Maguire.
With the Premier League now concluded, expect the transfer reports to escalate up to, and then through, the signing window.