Pep Guardiola and defenders. It’s been an expensive exercise for Manchester City.
Still trying to fill the glaring void left by long-serving captain Vincent Kompany in 2019, and reeling after a stunning 5-2 Premier League drubbing at the hands of Leicester City, Manchester City have turned to Ruben Dias.
Benfica and Portugal center-back Dias will cost City an initial £62 million (€68 million), plus £2.1 million (€3.6 million) in add-ons should the 23-year-old trigger various performance-related clauses.
Sunday’s announcement, with Nicolas Otamendi, set to move in the opposite direction, takes Guardiola’s spending as City manager on defenders to in excess of £410 million (€451 million) since 2016. While City has won two Premier League titles under Guardiola, the team’s defence remains an Achilles heel, especially in pursuit of European glory.
As City welcomes Dias to Manchester, we look at Guardiola’s previous defender signings while in the Citizens dugout.
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