Pep Guardiola Confirms He Wants to Sign Another Defender as Funds Start to Run Low

Pep Guardiola has confirmed that he may look to add another centre-back to his Manchester City squad, despite being happy with his overall business this summer.

Pep Guardiola has confirmed that he may look to add another centre-back to his Manchester City squad, despite being happy with his overall business this summer.

The Spaniard has splashed out over £200m ahead of the 2017/18 campaign as he tweaked his senior squad after the Citizens finished third in the Premier League last term.

Quoted by Sky Sports ahead of his side's pre-season fixture with title rivals Tottenham in Nashville, Guardiola admitted he was content with the size of his squad but alluded to the fact that he could look to sign one more defender if the right player became available.

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He said: "I am happy with John Stones, Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Otamendi. We don't have too much more to spend. We have spent a lot because we didn't have a lot of guys.

"But if the market gives us a chance we are going to try to sign (a defender)."

The bulk of Guardiola's outlay has been spent on reshaping his defensive unit at the Etihad, with goalkeeper Ederson and full-backs Kyle Walker, Benjamin Mendy and Danilo all being recruited in a bid to make his team more resilient at the back.

That quartet joined first summer signing Bernardo Silva in opting to move to Manchester in the off season and, with plenty of strength in depth, talent and experience in his squad Guardiola claimed that he was happy with the manner in which City had operated in the transfer market.

He stated: "I'm happy with the squad we have. I was happy with the players I had last season. You never hear one bad word about the players.

STONES (on last season): “I said to Pep it was great experience for me... I feel I’ve grown as a player and a person.” #cityontour

— Manchester City (@ManCity) July 28, 2017

"But we'll buy players to reinforce the team, like other teams around the world, until August 31st. If not we'll go with what we have. The market is so expensive."

Guardiola also added that, given his side's summer spending, he expected that the club's fanbase would be pushing their club to pick up a third top flight title in the past eight years.

He said: "Expectations are high to win titles. We didn't get it last season. But it's not about the tactics - whether you play three, four, five-man defence - it's about believing you can do it.

"We believe in the principles, whether it be high pressing, aggressive in some areas with the ball or without the ball, it's about reinforcing the principle of what we have to do."