Man City to make club record move for Pep Guardiola favourite

Kolkata, March 4: Pep Guardiola is looking set to smash Manchester City's transfer record for a reunion with Bayern Munich star Thiago Alcantara, according to reports.

The City boss and Bayern midfielder, now 27, spent three years in Germany together after Pep signed him for the Bundesliga giants from Barcelona.

Prior to that, the pair spent a further three years together in Spain.

Now Guardiola is hoping to bring Alcantara to England, but it could cost more than the club-record £60million spent on Riyad Mahrez, according to reports in England.

The Etihad chief sees 31-cap Spain international Alcantara as a long-term replacement for Fernandinho.

Man City have looked worryingly exposed this season in games missed by the Brazilian defensive midfielder.

Recently, Guardiola revealed all about his summer transfer plans - and suggested a midfielder would be on the way.

Pep said: “There are three or four positions to look for. We have some ideas, but it’s an option to buy [a left-back].

"A holding midfielder we will try for, and one more position, although I’m not going to tell you which positions or players.”

Alcantara would certainly fit the bill of a holding midfielder and with Pep's extensive knowledge of the star, could be the perfect summer buy.

In the past year, Guardiola has failed in bids for Jorginho, who chose to follow his Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri to Chelsea, and Shakhtar Donetsk’s Fred, snapped up by neighbours Manchester United, and also seen Frenkie de Jong agree an end-of-season move from Ajax to Barcelona for next season.

Guardiola also admires Atletico Madrid’s Saul Niguez, and has been encouraged by his fellow Spaniard recently switching agents.

But the problem is that Saul is only two years into a long nine-year contract.