Manchester City prepare €60 million investment in midfield and defensive signings for January

The Premier League champions are eyeing a major revamp of their first-team squad during the upcoming January transfer window, according to reports.

Links to the latest duo of players come at a fitting time for Manchester City, who are enduring problems in both positions for various reasons during the ongoing campaign and defence of their historic treble.

Pep Guardiola’s midfield options are in need of improvement and have been hampered by injury at various stages so far this season, whilst Kalvin Phillips is widely expected to leave the club on a temporary agreement during the upcoming winter window.

In defence, and Manchester City are conceding more goals than usual, having allowed for Chelsea to score four at Stamford Bridge, whilst RB Leipzig and Tottenham scored two goals and three goals respectively in Etihad Stadium clashes.

Now it appears as though Etihad transfer bosses are looking to correct the problems through transfer market investment, with two new names having been linked with interest from Manchester City.

That is according to the information of TV Play, as translated and relayed by Sport Witness, who claim that Manchester City are currently looking to bolster both their midfield and defence ahead of the turn of the year.

With regards to the former role, it is claimed that the idea of the reigning European champions is to bring in a young player who can immediately start and feature under manager Pep Guardiola, as such setting their sights on 22-year-old France international Khéphren Thuram.

The OGC Nice midfielder has impressed for the Ligue 1 side so far this season, and as such has also attracted interest from Serie A giants Juventus, with the player currently contracted until 2025 in France.

Moving into the defensive role and Club Brugge’s versatile natural forward Tajon Buchanan is reportedly the ‘first name’ on Manchester City’s list, with the 24-year-old Canada international predominantly used at right-back this season.

Having scored three goals and registered four assists from 18 games so far this season, the player is also attracting attention from Italian duo Juventus and Inter Milan. However, City are said to be causing difficulties with their readiness to ‘invest’ €60 million into the duo.

Juventus and Manchester City may become involved in direct contact over transfers this winter, with the Serie A club understood to be interested in the services of Kalvin Phillips, as the former Leeds United man eyes improved minutes ahead of the European Championships.

Any move for Khéphren Thuram in particular would likely come with a view towards replacing Phillips in Pep Guardiola’s side, despite the pending return of Kevin De Bruyne following a long absence through injury.