Manchester City have reportedly joined cross-town rivals Manchester United in the chase for Tottenham Hotspur’s £25 million-rated defender Danny Rose. The interest from both Manchester clubs could spark a potential bidding war.
According to Steve Bates of the Daily Mirror, Manchester City and Manchester United are primed to lock horns over the signing of Spurs full-back Danny Rose. The 24-year-old is currently valued at £25 million, but given his meteoric rise in status, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy may see this as an opportunity to make a greater profit from any potential sale.
Pep Guardiola took over an ageing and languorous City side in the summer, and was expected to bring about a drastic change in fortunes. The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich head coach was handed a huge transfer budget to rope in quality names to the Etihad in the off-season.
John Stones was the most expensive of the signings, and other big names such as Ilkay Gundogan, Leroy Sane and Nolito also joined the Citizens and kick-started Guardiola’s revolution in Manchester.
2 – Manchester City have kept just two clean sheets this season; fewer than in any other Premier League season after 14 games. Soiled.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 5, 2016
Initial signs pointed toward the manager being a huge success as he guided his side to ten straight victories in all competitions at the start of the season. However, in early October, their winning run was snapped as Tottenham beat them 2-0 at White Hart Lane.
Since then, there has been a dip in the performances of the Citizens and much has been due to the tinkering nature of the manager, and playing his players out of position. Aleksander Kolarov has played at left-back his entire career and is expected to slot in as a central defender under Guardiola.
Gael Clichy, a predominant left-back, was told to play as an inverted full-back – a position he is not familiar with. Thus, there is a dire need for the manager to sign a specialist full-back, and he has turned his attention to Danny Rose.
The dynamic Spurs left-back has shown tremendous signs of progress in the past few seasons and could be an ideal signing for City. However, they will face stiff competition for the defender from their rivals Manchester United who are keen to be interested in signing the Englishman.
First-choice left-back Luke Shaw recovered from a gruesome broken leg at the start of the season, but has struggled to maintain his fitness as well as his form this campaign, and does not have an out-and-out left-back as his understudy.
Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind and Matteo Darmian have operated as makeshift left-backs throughout the season, but it may be time for Jose Mourinho to sign a quality full-back in that position.
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