Man City should leapfrog Liverpool and Manchester United in transfer race to fix midfield issue

There don't seem to be many obvious midfield targets for Manchester City at the moment.

City moved quickly to at least get another player in following the departure of Ilkay Gundogan. Mateo Kovacic may not be seen as a direct replacement by the club but he has taken the No.8 and is in a similar dynamic, classy mould as the former captain.

With Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Julian Alvarez, Bernardo Silva (for now), John Stones, Kalvin Phillips, Rico Lewis, Cole Palmer, James McAtee and probably even Jack Grealish at a push all capable of playing various midfield roles, Pep Guardiola still has plenty of options in the crucial area but the club was keen to strengthen further. A massive £95million bid was lodged for West Ham talisman Declan Rice but when Arsenal raised their own offer to £105million in response, City bowed out of the running.

Since then it's gone all quiet on the midfield front. Only highly-rated Celta Vigo playmaker Gabri Veiga has been linked but the youngster looks to play more of an attacking role than the all-action, box-to-box, ball-winning, tempo-setting job Gundogan did to perfection.

Also read: City have an obvious replacement for wantaway star Bernardo Silva

Instead, the Blues have turned their attention elsewhere. Centre-back Josko Gvardiol is now the top target as the club looks to complete a deal. MEN Sport understands RB Leipzig want £85m for the Croatian colossus plus additional performance-related payments. Though City are not yet ready to meet that valuation, despite advanced talks, all parties still expect a deal can be done.

Guardiola wants another high-quality defender given Aymeric Laporte and Joao Cancelo are expected to leave this summer while Kyle Walker's future also