Josko Gvardiol shows Man City are doubling down on innovative centre-back tactic

With five centre-backs competing for two starting spots, why would Manchester City make such a big investment on adding a sixth this summer?

City have agreed a £77.5m deal with RB Leipzig to sign Josko Gvardiol, which will make him the club's second-most expensive signing ever. The 21-year-old is seen as a defensive option for the next decade, but won't walk into the defence when he arrives as there are plenty of options ahead of him who have just won the treble.

As the season wore on last year, Pep Guardiola leaned more and more on his centre-backs, asking the likes of John Stones, Manu Akanji and Nathan Ake to cover at full-back. Stones in particular excelled at moving into midfield, whether it was from full-back or centre-back, while Ake was first-choice left-back en route to the Champions League victory.

For someone like Aymeric Laporte to be limited to a fringe role shows the level needed to play in Guardiola's defence nowadays, and the evolution into a back four of centre-backs will be crucial to how the Blues go about defending their treble.

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As part of a new series ahead of the upcoming season, here we look at each position in City's squad and look at each player's aims for 2023/24:

Where he can improve: Given he has only just joined the club, it's unfair to ask him to improve immediately. He will be asked to learn the system at City, settle in as quickly as possible, and fight for a place in the defence. His arrival, rather than a traditional full-back or two, shows that Guardiola is fully committing to a back four made up of versatile, inverting centre-backs who start the attacks through the middle.

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