Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola told to limit his spending this summer. This could leave him in a problem with Laporte’s injury and a central defensive headache.
Manchester City is yet to discover the extent of the injury Aymeric Laporte sustained in Saturday’s 4-0 win against Brighton.
Guardiola says, “It doesn’t look good” and knows any absence will leave him with just two senior Centre-backs.
Skipper Vincent Kompany left this summer and never replaced. This left Laporte, Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones as the Champions’ only recognized central defenders.
City was keen on Harry Maguire but were not prepared to match the £80m Manchester United paid Leicester for the England man.
“The club told me there is a limit and we cannot go for it right now.” Said Guardiola.
The Spaniard spent a club record of £62.8m on midfielder Rodri and an additional £60m on Portugal through the sales of Danilo, Fabien Delph and Douglas Luiz.
‘We cannot afford it as other teams can afford it,” added Guardiola.
“I never complained about that. We paid a lot of money for a lot of players. That is why we have a deep squad with a lot of quality. But you have a limit. Maybe in the future, but right now we cannot do it.”
Guardiola expects Stones to return after a two-game absence for the trip to Norwich on 14th September. With the Champions League campaign after that and the additional EFL Cup commitments later this month, the City boss may have to get creative in central defense.
This could either mean, the Brazilian midfielder, Fernandinho will continue in a defensive role following his appearance as a substitute on Saturday or, Kyle Walker will have to shift from the right-back spot, something he has not done for City before.
“It is what it is,” says Guardiola. “We are in the season and the guys need to step forward. If Kyle Walker has to play as a central defender, he will play as a central defender. We have to find solutions.