Manchester City are 14 points clear atop of the Premier League and have a chance of winning the title, League Cup, FA Cup and Champions League, but Elano says the Sky Blues could do with signing a ‘versatile’ player to bolster their defence.
The former City midfielder, who made 80 appearances between 2007 and 2009, said to Ladbrokes at its launch of the 5-A-Side Bet (h/t Manchester Evening News) that Pep Guardiola needs another defender despite the league leaders being overstocked in the position.
Where will Manchester City finish this season?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
Elano explained: “In my opinion, I would say there’s always areas which an outsider might say need strengthening. I would probably look at adding another defender, maybe someone a little more versatile. You can always add players who will improve things.”
City aren’t short of defensive options, however. Guardiola has Benjamin Mendy and Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back while Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker can operate at right-back. And at centre-back, he has John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Nathan Ake, Eric Garcia and Ruben Dias at his disposal.
Mendy might be on his way out of the Etihad Stadium in the summer transfer window, however, as he’s out of favour at City and could be replaced by one of Ajax’s Nicolas Tagliafico, Bayern Munich’s David Alaba and Atalanta BC’s Robin Gosens, so Elano’s suggestion makes sense if he’s talking about left-back.
In other news, Paris Saint-Germain ‘keeping tabs’ on Manchester City player with ‘uncertain’ future