Man City may have to change transfer policy if Marc Cucurella joins Chelsea

Manchester City might have underestimated Brighton's resolve in this transfer window, and could go into the season a player light as a result.

They want to sign Seagulls left-back Marc Cucurella, but won't rise to their £50m asking price and are prepared to walk away and look at alternatives at full-back. Since making that position clear, reports have linked Chelsea with a bid for Cucurella, at a price Brighton would accept, which could see the Spaniard move to Stamford Bridge rather than the Etihad.

On the one hand, City would be relaxed about that. They have held firm in the past when a players' asking has exceeded their valuation, and they are rarely held to ransom in the transfer market. On the other, by walking away from Cucurella, they are risking a season without a decent left-back option to support Joao Cancelo.

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And with Cancelo also the only senior competition for Kyle Walker on the right, City are set to go into the new campaign with one senior right-back and one senior left-back, with only teenagers Rico Lewis and Josh Wilson-Esbrand for cover. For a side that owes much of its success to rotation, especially in the busy periods, it's rare they ever have two positions with just one senior option.

Of course, Nathan Ake can play on the left — and he may well be needed — but he's more comfortable in the centre, and one injury to him, Walker or Cancelo really exposes the current lack of depth in the defensive wide areas.

And it's also entirely plausible that City could sign a new full-back before the transfer deadline. When they spent all summer in 2020 publicly chasing Kalidou Koulibaly, but refused to meet Napoli's asking price, they