Marc Cucurella signing would give Man City an advantage Pep Guardiola didn't have last season

Manchester City are expected to ramp up their pursuit of Brighton left-back Marc Cucurella over the next few weeks, if and when Oleksandr Zinchenko completes his move to Arsenal.

City and Arsenal have reportedly reached a verbal agreement on a £30m-£35m fee for the Ukraine international, with personal terms expected to be agreed this week.

That should pave the way for City to move for Cucurella. The Spaniard is Pep Guardiola's prime transfer target, and City's failure to make a bid so far is likely linked to the future of Zinchenko. Once the latter is resolved, the former will follow.

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Zinchenko has been a superb servant to City over the past five seasons, adapting his game to an unfamiliar role and putting in some titan performances along the way.

However, as a natural left-back 23-year-old Cucurella would represent a step-up, meaning that City would have two world-class options on the left side of defence.

Joao Cancelo is a right-back by trade but impressed Guardiola at left-back so much last season that he limited Zinchenko to just 15 Premier League appearances.

The question is, who will start if Cucurella does join City? The answer is most likely both, as they will bring different qualities to the team and will each be better suited to different Guardiola game plans.

As he showed last season, Cancelo brings a level of technical brilliance and attacking flair to the left side of the pitch few left-backs are capable of.

His early years as a midfielder meant he was at ease when tucking into midfield when Guardiola wanted his full-backs to invert, but he was