Man City eye up surprise move for Wolves player as Pep Guardiola has ‘no trust’ in defender

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is reportedly lacking trust in summer left-back signing Sergio Gomez and he is eager to bring in another player to add depth at full-back. Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Rayan Ait-Nouri, who was looked at as a potential City signing in August, is a player Guardiola’s side have interest in.

Scoring a late stoppage-time winner in Wolves’ return to Premier League action away at Everton on Boxing Day, Ait-Nouri thrust himself back into the limelight. The 21-year-old has played second fiddle to Hugo Bueno for much of the season so far but his impact off the bench could edge him into the starting eleven again.

The Athletic labels Ait-Nouri as a ‘plausible target’ as City look to finally resolve their problems at full-back. The report states Guardiola is unable to trust Gomez to start, hence why City have often been playing centre halves John Stones and Manuel Akanji on the right, with Joao Cancelo moving to the left.

Other options City are said to be looking at are Borussia Dortmund star Raphael Guerreiro, Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell and Arsenal’s Kieran Tierney, who is backup to Oleksandr Zinchenko. The Manchester side are probably regretting selling Zinchenko somewhat, as he would ironically solve a lot of their issues with his versatility.

If Ait-Nouri was to leave Wolves in January, Julen Lopetegui would be left with a problem of his own to solve. Although Bueno has been playing well, losing depth in defence is always going to hurt and the Wanderers would likely have to make a signing of their own. Thankfully for now, though, nothing is advanced for Ait-Nouri – it is just interest at this stage.