Breaking down Pep Guardiola's £425 million defence at Manchester City

With the arrival of Portuguese centre-back Ruben Dias from Benfica, Manchester City-boss Pep Guardiola has taken his spending on defenders to an astronomical sum of £425.8 million.

The £65m priced recruit is the second high-profile defender to arrive at the Etihad this summer, after the £41m acquisition of Nathan Ake from Bournemouth. His arrival comes after a humbling 5-2 Premier League defeat to Leicester City. It was the first time a Pep Guardiola coached team has conceded five goals and it was also the first time in two decades where the Cityzens has conceded five goals.

The Catalan manager succeeded an ageing defence when he took over the blue-half of Manchester involving the likes of then-captain Vincent Kompany, Eliaquim Mangala, Martin Demichelis. Jason Denayer, Bacary Sagna, Pablo Zabaleta, Aleksandar Kolarov, and Gael Clichy.

The task on his hands was rebuilding City's back-line. Four years on, he's still making new additions. The club as a whole has been striving for acquiring effective and consistent defenders since the start of the Sheikh Mansour era. Only Vincent Kompany stood the test of the time, and his departure in 2019 has left a huge void.

With Ruben Dias being officially unveiled, here we break down Manchester City's £425.8 million defensive spending spree under Pep Guardiola:

Oleksandr Zinchenko (£1.7m)

Initially brought in as a midfielder, Pep has used him more at the back when the likes of Angelino and Mendy were absent. The versatile Ukrainian has excelled at left-back and has grown into an important squad player for City. His 68 outings across three campaigns have fetched eight major trophies. With a £1.7 million price tag, the 23-year-old has been a decent success.

John Stones (£47.5m)

The highly-rated John Stones was Guardiola's final signing of the 2016 transfer window for Manchester City. The doe-eyed lynchpin of the Everton defence became the second most expensive defender of all-time in the process. Stones rarely gets into the match-day squad these days and has blown hot and cold during his four years at Etihad. The lanky centre-half possesses all the qualities to be a top-class defender but sadly, his stock has fallen considerably due to his high-profile mistakes and errors, for both club and country.

The overpriced Englishman has had his fair share of injuries and has fallen further down the pecking order with Nathan Ake's arrival. With age on his side, he could still be the player he was once touted to be and eventually justify his price-tag.

Danilo (£26.5m)

Danilo was brought in from Real Madrid and showed little glimpses of his quality. The Brazilian failed to establish himself in the first team and often played second fiddle to Kyle Walker. He was outperformed by Fabian Delph at times. He never really settled at Manchester City, and soon left for Juventus as part of the Joao Cancelo deal.

Kyle Walker (£45m)

Kyle Walker came to Manchester City from Spurs with a reputation of being one of the best right-backs in the English top-flight. The full-back has been a reliable and steady fixture in Pep Guardiola's plans with almost 150 appearances. The England international's link-up play has been an effective asset going forward.

He has had his fair share of wobbles and lackadaisical performances in the blue shirt, but has justified his hefty fee better than most.

Benjamin Mendy (£52m)

City captured the services of the incredibly athletic Benjamin Mendy from AS Monaco to partner Kyle Walker in solving their full-back woes. The injury-plagued Frenchman has failed to live up to the expectations of his Ligue 1 days. He is a technically-sound player, tailor-made for the Premier League with a blistering pace and terrific crossing range, but can be shaky in defence at times.

We haven't seen the best of Mendy on a consistent basis, but if he can stay injury-free, he can still come good.

Aymeric Laporte (£57m)

Manchester City smashed their transfer records by acquiring Aymeric Laporte from Athletico Bilbao in January 2018, halfway through their 'Centurion's Campaign'. The French international has been a roaring success at the Etihad. He's an elite centre-back who is relatively quick, strong, powerful, and is decent with the ball at his feet. City's defence rarely looks shoddy and ships goals when the Agen-born defender starts.

The colossal defender was instrumental in City's domestic treble-winning campaign and his scintillating performances were rewarded with a place in PFA Team Of The Year 2018/19. His unavailability due to injuries strongly contributed to City's 18 point-deficit to Liverpool in previous season's title race. Without him, City's backline is dreadful.

Philippe Sandler (£2.7m)

Philipe Sandler penned a multi-year deal with Manchester City in 2018 and became Guardiola's third signing of the summer. Sandler came through the famed youth ranks of Ajax before moving to their Eredivisie rivals PEC Zwolle.

The Holland under-20 international made four appearances for Manchester City Under-23s and made his first senior appearance in the EFL Cup semi-final second leg against Burton Albion. The Dutch center-back was loaned out to Anderlecht for the 2019-20 season, reuniting with player-manager and former Manchester City teammate Vincent Kompany.

Only time will tell if he will be an effective signing for Manchester City.

Angelino (£11m)

City re-signed Angelino in the summer of 2019 from PSV by triggering the buy-back clause in his contract after two consecutive impressive seasons in the Eredivisie. The Eredivisie Talent of the Season 2018/19 made a dozen appearances for City before being loaned to RB Leipzig in January. The left-back's stay in Germany has been extended via a loan extension that runs till the end of the 2020-21 campaign.

It needs to be seen how the Spaniard breaks into Pep Guardiola's first eleven in the future.

Pedro Porro (£11m)

Spaniard Pedro Porro moved to Manchester City from sister club Girona, commanding a seven-figure transfer fee. The 21-year-old is yet to make an appearance for the Cityzens as he was immediately loaned to La Liga outfit Real Valladolid for the 2019-20 season after four days into his City contract. The Spanish U21 International recently secured a two-year loan deal to Sporting CP.

Another signing on which the jury remains out.

Joao Cancelo (£60m)

Joao Cancelo came from Turin as the most expensive right-back ever but has had a disappointing start to life at the Etihad. Cancelo signed a bumper six-year contract that saw City paying £27.4 million-plus Danilo as a makeweight in the deal. The Portuguese international struggled in his debut campaign and has offered little threat to 29-year-old Kyle Walker's starting berth. He clocked a mere 600 minutes in his disastrous first season.

He was supposed to be the perfect modern-day full-back when City availed his services, but has been a shadow of his former self at Juventus as he failed to deliver offensively and defensively. He's been surplus to requirements lately.

Yan Couto (£5.4m)

Brazilian teenager Yan Couto signed for Manchester City in March, after heavily being linked to Barcelona. The Coritiba youth product was an undisputed starter at right-back for the U-17 World Cup-winning Brazil team. One of the most outstanding talents of his age-group, the starlet will ply his trade at Spanish Segunda Division club Girona after agreeing on a season-long loan.

Nathan Ake (£41m)

Pep Guardiola snapping up Nathan Ake from a relegated Bournemouth side for £41 million, amid an incredibly inflated market, raised plenty of eyebrows. The 25-year-old Dutchman has been a regular fixture in English football since his move to Chelsea from Feyenoord in 2011.

Ake's failure to convince Antonio Conte resulted in him moving to 'The Cherries', where he became indispensable. Predominantly a centre-back, he has also been deployed as left-back and as holding midfielder, thus fitting into plenty of systems.

Ake is a solid addition and offers admirable versatility to an ailing backline.

Ruben Dias (£65m)

City have lavished £64m on Benfica Center-half Ruben Dias to take their defensive summer reinforcements above the £100 million mark. The deal also saw old horse Nicolas Otamendi moving in the other direction for £18 million. He is a vocal and pro-active defender with a willingness to push up into the midfield when needed.

The Portuguese defender is expected to seamlessly slot into Guardiola's system and ease their defensive issues by being a stable partner for Laporte.

He is the leader Manchester City have been lacking since Vincent Kompany.