5 Champions League contenders and their centre-backs issues

#1 Manchester City

Laporte seems to be the only centre-back that Guardiola trusts

The Cityzens have a problem in central defence and it is one that Pep Guardiola will need to fix. Captain and leader, Vincent Kompany has left to become a player/manager at Anderlecht after 11 years at the Etihad Stadium.

Nicolas Otamendi has looked good in batches and his struggles at Copa America will have alarmed the club. The same applies to John Stones who had a stinker at the UEFA Nations League. Aymeric Laporte seems to be the only centre-back that the manager trusts. This will be a huge problem for the manager as it will be crazy to go into a season with just one trusted centre-back.

It is expected that a senior centre-back will be added to the playing roster before the transfer window closes while one player from the youth squad (most likely Eric Garcia) will be promoted in the event that Otamendi is sold as is being speculated.

The club is still in the race for de Ligt who would be perfect for the high-pressing, passing style Guardiola favours. However, they have also been linked to Leicester City’s Harry Maguire (English quotient).

If Maguire were to be the chosen one, he would cost far more than Van Dijk cost Liverpool which may be too pricey for the Cityzens especially if Rodri comes in from Atletico Madrid.