Pep Guardiola made it plain this week that Manchester City will be in hot pursuit of a striker when the summer transfer window opens. With the Blues smashing neighbours Manchester United to re-open their six-point lead at the top of the Premier League, with one foot in the Champions League quarter-final and already in the last eight of the FA Cup, adding another expensive player might seem like gilding the lily.
Both this season and last, when Sergio Aguero missed most of the campaign through injury, the Blues have made light of doing without a goalscoring striker, flying in the face of traditional English football wisdom. In fact they have been so good without a striker that United tried to copy them in the derby, going without a striker themselves - and ended up looking like a poor tribute act.
That was forced on them a little by the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani through injury, but the fact they left Marcus Rashford on the bench meant there was an element of choice in the matter.
