Manchester City's transfer window looked to be going so well but now they've left themselves in a bit of a mess.
With the signings of Erling Haaland, Kalvin Phillips and Stefan Ortega all completed early in the window - not to mention January signing Julian Alvarez's arrival - as well as Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling having their futures resolved quickly, City looked to have completed their summer business in record time. This gave Pep Guardiola the squad refresh he desired.
When Oleksandr Zinchenko was allowed to leave for Arsenal it looked like another piece of understandable business, with the Ukrainian looking for more guaranteed minutes and to play in his favoured midfield position. City were confident of quickly getting in his replacement so everything looked rosy.
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However, that has gone awry as the Blues were unable to convince Brighton to lower their £50million asking price for Marc Cucurella. While City stood their ground refusing to pay that much, Chelsea look to have swooped in and beat them to the punch. Reports on Wednesday evening claimed that the London club had agreed a £52.5million fee for the Spaniard. Even though Brighton moved to deny the speculation on their official Twitter account, it does appear that City will lose out to Chelsea.
That means City will go into the campaign with Joao Cancelo as their only recognised left-back (even though he is naturally a right-back) and just Nathan Ake as senior back-up with Aymeric Laporte out until at least September. The position has strangely been an oversight at City for a number of years, with the likes of the aforementioned centre-back duo, Fabian Delph and Zinchenko (two midfielders by trade) being deployed there until Cancelo truly made it his own last season.
No dedicated left-back has been signed since Benjamin Mendy arrived in 2017, with Guardiola repeatedly making do with stopgaps during Mendy's many absences. But that now has to change this summer. If an injury crisis similar to the end of last season strikes again it could seriously expose the Blues with versatile options Zinchenko and Fernandinho gone. Untested youngster Josh Wilson-Esbrand is the only other left-back at the club so an alternative to Cucurella must be identified and recruited. And soon.
It's understood that City do have a list of options in the event that they missed out on Cucurella and Stuttgart's Borna Sosa is on the list. The Croatia international, 24, played 24 times last season, scoring twice and providing nine assists, the sort of attacking output that would certainly fit in well at the Etihad.
Another potential option who brings excellent attacking qualities is AC Milan's Theo Hernandez. The Frenchman has been repeatedly linked with City over the years but has remained at the San Siro where he played a crucial role in their Serie A triumph last season, contributing five goals and 10 assists. However, after signing a new deal to 2026 in February, a move would be difficult to pull off.
A player with significantly fewer years left on their contract, however, is Raphael Guerreiro, whose deal at Borrusia Dortmund expires in 2023. Though fragile defensively, Guerreiro is brilliant in possession, deadly from set-pieces and always registers good numbers. In 188 appearances in Germany, he has grabbed 34 goals and 37 assists.
James Justin of Leicester City could also be an intriguing option. Though he, just like Cancelo, is actually a right-back, he has ample experience on both flanks and is just as good on either side. Versatility that would certainly be useful to Guardiola. Though he's not as accomplished going forward and has suffered some awful injuries in recent years, Justin is a composed and classy defender.
Finally, Crystal Palace youngster Tyrick Mitchell may present a decent option. He has shone since breaking into the Eagles' first team two years ago and has grown into a dependable Premier League defender. In a similar fashion to Phillips, he may be a player who is content in not playing every week when there's someone else ahead of him in the pecking order but willing to prove himself better.
Losing out on Cucurella may be a disappointment but there are still plenty of options out there for City.
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