3 players Manchester City should try to sign in January transfer window

With the exception of castoff goalkeeper Joe Hart, Pep Guardiola has had six months to give the rest of his Manchester City squad a thorough examination - and, unless he's trying to throw the media and European rivals off the scent, he was pleased with what he saw.

"I'm happy with what we have, I have confidence in the players," he told the Guardian's Paul Wilson on Dec. 23, before adding: "We can work with what we have and if we finish the season with these players that will be good."

The Spaniard didn't entirely rule out hitting the January sales, though - "you never know what might happen in a week or two" - and must see the glaring dearth of talent in various corners of his lineup.

To address these, here are three players City should buy over the winter transfer window:

Virgil van Dijk (Southampton)

Van Dijk looks a ready-made Guardiola player.

The Dutchman has produced more accurate long balls that any other Premier League defender, has only been out-tackled by Nicolas Otamendi and Cesar Azpilicueta, and wins the vast majority of one-on-ones. The way he strides forward and picks out a teammate is reminiscent of Guardiola in his playing pomp too.

Considering how unconvincing Otamendi continues to be - he has been dribbled past 12 times this season, which isn't surpassed by any central defensive contemporary - Aleksandar Kolarov's questionable fill-in job in the middle, and John Stones' mistakes that are inevitable for someone who wants to emulate the likes of Paolo Maldini and Leonardo Bonucci, Van Dijk would be a welcome addition.

Unfortunately for the City faithful, even if £50 million is laid down for the 25-year-old, it probably won't happen.

"Next month, Van Dijk here?" said Guardiola, when asked by Sky Sports' Paul Vinnell about the cultured centre-half.

"We're going to Southampton to play against them (in April). He's not going to come here next month. Impossible."

Maybe next summer?

Geronimo Rulli (Real Sociedad)

Rulli's contract must have more small print than a gnat's bible.

The 24-year-old Argentinian spent the last two seasons on loan with Real Sociedad from Deportivo Maldonado, a tiny outfit from Uruguay that operates by "trading elite South American players who never appear in a game," as Bloomberg explains - he never played a game for the club - before Manchester City signed him this summer.

To confuse matters, City then immediately loaned him back to Sociedad in a deal which will turn permanent in January.

This is where City simultaneously benefits and baffles: Guardiola's side now holds an option to re-sign Rulli for €14 million in any of the next three transfer windows and, failing that, for a fee exceeding €30 million afterwards.

With Claudio Bravo, 33, flapping and appearing more disoriented than the aforementioned gnat, the temptation for Guardiola to exercise the clause in 24-year-old Rulli's paperwork this January has to be huge.

True, he may still show some indiscipline in his third year in San Sebastian, but at least he has positional sense and hands rather than feet at the end of his reach.

Danny Rose (Tottenham)

The preferred choice for City would be David Alaba, who displayed his versatility under Guardiola at Bayern Munich, but most clubs in the world would battle it out for the Austrian's signature.

Instead, Guardiola could go shopping in north London.

Danny Rose's gradual improvement at Tottenham Hotspur hasn't gone unnoticed, with the 26-year-old becoming a regular in the England camp and single-handedly halting Ben Davies' development at White Hart Lane.

Of players that have strictly been deployed at left-back and played 10 or more league matches this season, Rose is leading in successful dribbles and accurate long balls per 90 minutes, and continues to improve his timing in late dashes into the box.

And Rose would fill a problem area for City. Gael Clichy is a steady performer but doesn't set the world alight, Kolarov has been shunted inside and was a defensively susceptible full-back anyway, and promising talent Angelino has been shifted on loan to Girona in the Spanish second tier with right-back Pablo Maffeo.

Rose wouldn't be a marquee signing of the ilk that many expected when Guardiola took over, but he could prove a sensible acquisition.