Report: Guardiola to sign another defender after latest Kompany setback
Manchester City is set to hold a board meeting in Abu Dhabi this weekend as chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak prepares funds for Pep Guardiola to purchase a central defender in the upcoming January transfer window, The Guardian's Jamie Jackson reports.
The club has already purchased a number of central defenders in the last few seasons in John Stones, Nicolas Otamendi, and Eliaquim Mangala. But recurrent injuries to captain Vincent Kompany has left Guardiola short on first-team options, as the latter two players are out on loan.
Guardiola is reportedly willing to give Kompany one more season to try and recover, but is looking to add another central defender to his ranks, with Juventus' Leonardo Bonucci and Athletic Bilbao's Aymeric Laporte supposedly high on his list of options.
Kompany was ruled out for a further six weeks with a knee injury, compounding a season already hampered by a number of knocks, strains, and other issues; in total, the Belgian defender has missed 260 days of action this year and has reportedly had 37 separate injury issues since joining the club in 2008.
His latest issue occurred after he collided with his own goalkeeper Claudio Bravo in Saturday's win over Crystal Palace.