Manchester City want to sign a left-back in the summer transfer window and expect to sign one. If they don't, having allowed Oleksandr Zinchenko to join Arsenal, it will be a rare but significant blip in an otherwise productive summer
Plan A is to sign Marc Cucurella from Brighton, the 24-year-old educated at La Masia that seems an ideal fit for the football Pep Guardiola plays. However, there remains a big difference between what City say they are willing to pay for him and what Brighton say they are willing to accept.
If that gap proves unable to be bridged, there have already been noises from the Etihad that they will turn their attentions elsewhere. Stuttgart defender Borna Sosa is one other name on the shortlist. City pulled something similar two years ago when Kaldiou Koulibaly was chased for the majority of the summer before they signed Ruben Dias instead.
