Pep Guardiola still wants to bring in Marc-Andre Ter Stegen from Barcelona before the transfer window closes according to the Mirror, with his concerns over Joe Hart’s distribution still lingering ahead of the season opener against Sunderland. Links with the German goalkeeper have persisted all summer, and have reignited over the last few days.
This follows reports on Thursday that Guardiola had told director of football and former Barcelona ally Txiki Begiristain to go out and find him two more signings – a goalkeeper and a quality, proven backup to Sergio Aguero – before the end of August. The Catalonian is believed to be worried about Hart’s ability with his feet, and Wilfried Bony looks to be on his way out of the club after 18 months, suggesting that Guardiola could want a replacement with more experience than Kelechi Iheanacho.
Talking to the press before the first game of the season, a visit from Sunderland, Pep suggested that City’s transfer business isn’t quite finished. “August 31 is the last day – then we’ll see who will stay, which will be loaned, which will be sold and which will be coming. We’ll see over the next three weeks how the team looks,” he was quoted as saying by the club’s official website.
Ter Stegen is thought to be the preferred target for Guardiola, but he is unlikely to come cheap. The Blues are reportedly yet to offer more than £20 million for the German, while Barcelona are demanding the payment of his £67 million release clause, which would mean breaking the City transfer record for a third time in just over 12 months.
However, what could play in City’s favour is that the young stopper is thought to be getting restless stuck as second choice to Claudio Bravo at Camp Nou, with him going as far as to say in the past that 25 games a season isn’t enough for him in the long run. The 24-year-old is about to enter his third season in Catalonia, but has appeared just 47 times during that period (and only seven times in the league, being an unused sub another 66 times in La Liga).
The Blues are also concerned about Willy Caballero’s ability to challenge Joe Hart for his number one spot, allowing the Englishman to become complacent again just as he did before Caballero arrived from Malaga. The younger and more highly-rated Ter Stegen could provide a much sterner challenge for the former Shrewsbury keeper, and potentially take his place should the need arise.
