Man City expect to complete move for Wolves star Rayan Ait-Nouri BEFORE the Club World Cup as Pep Guardiola looks to bolster his defence

Manchester City expect to complete the signing of Rayan Ait-Nouri to bolster Pep Guardiola’s back line.

Ait-Nouri, the Wolves left back, has been admired by scouts at City for over 12 months as they looked for reinforcements in that area of the pitch.

The 23-year-old is now deemed to have enough Premier League experience under his belt to make the move following an impressive campaign at Molineux.

Known for his buccaneering style, Ait-Nouri scored five goals in 41 appearances last season and registered another seven assists.

The Algeria international has a year left on his Wolves contract – the club also possessing an option to extend that.

But City, who fly out to the United States for the Club World Cup on June 12, are hoping to get a deal done sooner rather than later.

The decision to prioritise Ait-Nouri indicates that Josko Gvardiol will now move permanently into the centre of defence.

Gvardiol has spent much of his first 18 months at the Etihad Stadium on the left-hand side before striking up a formidable partnership with Ruben Dias in the middle.

Academy graduate Nico O’Reilly shone in that position despite coming through as a midfielder, with City mindful they needed long-term solutions at full back this summer.