Pep Guardiola picks Man City’s replacement for ‘one of the greatest ever’

Manchester City’s disappointing start to the season has prompted Pep Guardiola to dip into the transfer market, with the manager ready to solve a major problem replacing “one of the greatest ever”.

That’s how Guardiola chose to describe Kyle Walker ahead of the right-back’s return to the Etihad Stadium with Burnley last week in Premier League action.

It might ultimately have been an unhappy experience for the 35-year-old as the Clarets collapsed late on in a 5-1 loss, but City have never properly addressed replacing him since his powers began to wane last term.

“Absolutely, one of the greatest full-backs ever,” Guardiola said. “I slept like a baby before games with Kyle there.

“He can handle top, top-class wingers in the world.”

City’s current options are not so good. Matheus Nunes is a converted central midfielder, while the promising Rico Lewis still has much to learn. Neither is a trusted starter for Guardiola, whose sleep cannot be quite as peaceful these days.

Man City eye world-class Molina

Now he’s ready to remedy that by signing one of the world’s top right-backs in the form of Atletico Madrid’s Nahuel Molina, TeamTalk reports.

The 27-year-old is going through a tough period himself with Atleti. He was only a substitute for last week’s 5-2 derby win over Real Madrid, with Marcos Llorente now the favoured option here for Diego Simeone.

City and Guardiola have recognised this as an opportunity.

Molina is set to be available at an “attainable price”. It’s unclear exactly what this is, but it is likely to be in the region of €20 million given the Argentine’s Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) sits at €20m.

This is a bargain opportunity given that data analytics firm SciSports rates Molina among the 10 best right-backs in the world. He sits ahead of more renowned Denzel Dumfries of Inter, for example.

With the exception of the 32-year-old Giovanni Di Lorenzo at Napoli, he’s also the cheapest option available in this bracket.

Lewis is one day very soon likely to overtake him, but in terms of development and instant impact, Molina could prove terrific value for money at Man City, and it appears Guardiola appreciates this and is ready to move.

Football transfer news headlines today

Antoine Semenyo’s next move: Which move should the Premier League’s most in-form player make?

Man Utd find Bruno Fernandes’s perfect partner: The €21m sensation outperforming Baleba

Man Utd ‘agreement’ reached as Real Madrid take big Vini Jr decision – Transfer rumour recap

007 Watch: Wirtz and the other Premier League stars under pressure

The FootballTransfers app

Check out FootballTransfers’ new app for all of football’s big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.

The FootballTransfers app is available on Google Play and in the Apple App Store. Download here:

•Google Play

•App Store