5 big moves that could still happen in the transfer window

#3 A defensive midfielder for Manchester City

Pep knows he needs a new defensive midfield lynchpin

First, it was Fred, then Jorginho. For months on end, the Cityzens had been linked to these two players as the long-term replacements for aging midfielder Fernandinho.

Probably due to the prices they were quoted or over-confidence on their part, Guardiola’s team has lost out to domestic rivals for the duo.

Manchester United and Jose Mourinho got Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk and Jorginho followed Maurizio Sarri to Chelsea from Napoli.

This means Manchester City will go into the new season with the same set of midfielders who broke all records in the Premier League last season. They are also the same set of midfielders who got knocked out of the Champions League by Liverpool.

In football, standing still is the same as going back, something Guardiola knows better than other people. Therefore, a central midfielder to rotate with Fernandinho is still a priority for the Catalan genius.

Young starlet Claudio Gomes (signed from PSG) & Brazilian Douglas Luiz (who spent last season on loan at Girona) are out-of-the-box options.

However, the evidence still points to a last dip into the market before the window is shut with Mario Lemina (Southampton), Marco Kovacic (Real Madrid) and Miralem Pjanic (Juventus) among the options linked to the club.