With the January transfer window done and dusted, Manchester City will be turning their attention to what promises to be a busy summer window.
Despite signing young Argentinian striker Julian Alvarez for £14.1m on deadline day, City are still expected to enter the race to sign Borussia Dortmund forward Erling Haaland in the summer. Pep Guardiola's side will face stiff competition, but the idea is to have both Alvarez and Haaland within their ranks.
However, despite all the talk of strikers, it is another position that could well be City's priority in the next transfer window. 36-year-old club captain Fernandinho is expected to leave the Blues when his current contract expires in June, meaning Rodri will be Guardiola's only out-and-out holding midfielder.
Unless Romeo Lavia is promoted to the first-team squad or Guardiola is happy to have the more attack-minded Ilkay Gundogan as his Rodri backup, City will likely dip into the market to add some depth to the position.
Given that whoever comes in will have to be happy enough playing second fiddle to Rodri, Txiki Begiristain may find it hard to find the ideal target. However, the transfer market failures of cross-town rivals Manchester United last month may have given City a helping hand.
As has been apparent for months now - well before Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked - United are in desperate need of a quality holding midfielder.
Neither Fred nor Scott McTominay are good enough for where United want to be and after several years of rinse and repeat, United have finally realised that asking Paul Pogba to perform defensive duties is a recipe for disaster.
United began the month with numerous midfield targets. The likes of Aurélien Tchouaméni, Declan Rice, Boubacar Kamara, Kalvin Phillips, Amadou Haidara and Ruben Neves were all linked with Ralf Rangnick's side, but no moves materialised.
City are unlikely to pursue exactly the same targets during the summer, as the kind of midfielders that would fit into a Guardiola team differ from those suitable to a Rangnick one, or whoever replaces him.
But the more available options there are out there the better. Rice is believed to be United's primary target for the summer, so them focusing on the England star would allow City to focus on some of the other names. Rice could command a fee as high as £100m, a sum City are unlikely to pay for a backup to Rodri.
If City do end up speaking to some of the same targets as United in the summer, they will be confident of getting the man they want. City can offer a sound and successful footballing project, a world-class manager and a team built for success. Any player that signs for City will not merely win but improve too.
As we have seen over recent years, United have pipped City to major signings on a number of occasions. Alexis Sanchez, Fred and Harry Maguire all chose red over sky blue; all represent bullets dodged by City.
City clearly don't need any help in signing a new midfielder, but United's incompetence has given them that anyway.
Do you think that City will pursue a midfielder in the summer? Follow our City Is Ours writer Alex Brotherton on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
