Pep Guardiola and Man City may have another summer transfer priority

Manchester City have reportedly agreed personal terms with Erling Haaland, though the club remain tight-lipped on the topic., A striker has been a key target of Pep Guardiola's for some time, though there might be another equally important transfer priority on his mind at the moment.

While Guardiola's decision to rest some of his key players during Saturday's FA Cup semi-final defeat to Liverpool suggested City do not have the quality in depth that many claim they do, there is no doubting that City's squad has been carefully assembled. The group have all constituent parts which fit perfectly together - and not just in a purely footballing sense.

City are a brilliant football team because they have high-quality players playing a brand of football coached by a genius of the game. But those are far from being the only two important factors.

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For any football team to achieve any degree of success, there needs to be a good team spirit and morale in the dressing room. One of the main threats to that is the disruption caused by players who feel they are not playing as much as they should, so it's vital to create a squad of hard-working professionals who don't moan and work for the good of the collective.

As City's cross-town rivals have shown, that can be easier said than done. Yet at the Etihad, Guardiola, City's scouting team and director of football Txiki Begiristain manage to hit the sweet spot year on year.

"The scouting takes a look at these behaviours," Guardiola said ahead of City's league match against Brighton on Wednesday when asked about the importance of off-the-pitch dedication. "Football isn't just skills. The