Wherever he has managed so far, Pep Guardiola has had the luxury of being able to call upon the best players in the world, regardless of positioning.

The likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi and Iniesta were the top players in their respective roles at Barcelona, whereas at Bayern Munich he was able to call upon the likes of Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng and Robert Lewandowski.

While he is blessed with world-class talent at Manchester City in the form of Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne, it’s fair to say he doesn’t have the same calibre of players in every position.

City are struggling in the full-back positions due to Bacary Sagna’s injury and the mixed form of Gael Clichy and Aleksander Kolarov.

They are also struggling at centre-back with John Stones particularly error-prone while Vincent Kompany – arguably City’s only top-class defender – is struggling to get fit.

At the moment a number of the world’s top players are hailing from Germany.

Our landlord here in the Transfer Tavern thinks that these TWO germans would be perfect for City….

ANTONIO RUDIGER

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3BH5oCqntA

If City are desperate for a centre-back, they could do a lot worse than Antonio Rudiger.

The Roma defender is both quick and strong in the air and would do a great job in plugging up the gaps left by Nicolas Otamendi or John Stones.

The 23-year-old is allegedly a £35m target for local rivals Manchester United, so signing him would be a shrewd move to strengthen their backline whilst simultaneously weakening their rivals.

JONAS HECTOR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE6Z9q6Oe08

Another German Guardiola must be keeping an eye on is Jonas Hector.

Despite signing a new contract in August, City should still have the money to persuade FC Koln to part with one of their prized assets, but early signs suggest they should do that.

The 26-year-old has been a consistent player for the German side and earned a call-up to Joachim Low’s Euro 2016 side where he also impressed.

He has been even more important part of a Koln side who are exceeding all expectations and are currently fourth in the Bundesliga.