Scouting Manchester City Transfer Target Isco

The summer is an important time for any football club, an opportunity to reshape the squad or make changes to the staff, to refocus and recharge.

Preparations have to be meticulous, particularly at the biggest clubs who have to balance their media objectives, which usually involve extensive travel, and their squad planning.

Clubs have to grow their global "brand," while at the same time ensuring their players are fully prepared— physically and mentally—for the new season. It’s a difficult period to manage.

Manchester City face arguably the most important summer in their history. Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola will replace City manager Manuel Pellegrini. He, undoubtedly, will want to bring players in who fit his style of play.

The current squad is perhaps lacking the kind of qualities he demands. He wants energy and pace, youth and strength, with some guile and technique thrown in for good measure. City have an excellent team when everyone is fit, but their squad needs adding to and redesigning in Guardiola’s image.

The club will also travel to China, as reported by Anthony Jepson at the Manchester Evening News, as part of their current charm offensive in arguably the biggest, untapped football market in the world. With Guardiola bringing in his four-man backroom staff, too, it’s going to be a busy, complicated summer.

As well as improving the performance level of City’s current players and bringing through the club’s best young players, identifying new signings will be vital. Txiki Begiristain, the club’s sporting director, is going to be a busy man.

The latest name in the frame, according to Mark Brus writing in Metro, is Real Madrid’s Isco, a long-term target of the club. Brus believes Guardiola has already handed Begiristain a list of targets, with the Madrid schemer’s name on it.

Real Madrid are very often a good club from which to buy players. They tend to stockpile talent, but often a desire to buy the world’s best grips them. To fund it, they let some players leave to free up wage space and raise funds.

The summer of 2014 was a good example. They wanted the star of the World Cup, James Rodriguez, and allowed Angel Di Maria to depart.

Di Maria was one of their finest, most consistent players, yet he had to go to make way for James, a player whose commercial value appealed greatly. Di Maria’s move to Manchester United didn’t work out, which many would argue was down to mismanagement, and he is now playing superbly for Paris Saint-Germain.

If clubs monitor the situation at the Bernabau, they can pick up some stars. Should Isco leave—and he hasn’t been a consistent regular this season—whoever gets him would be bagging themselves a genuine talent.

He began life in Valencia’s academy, a setup that had produced David Villa, Juan Mata and, perhaps the player to whom he is most similar, David Silva. He wasn’t really given a fair chance to show what he could do. He left in 2011, aged 19, and signed for Malaga where his career really took off.

Under the guidance of Pellegrini, he flourished, playing 29 times in his first season. The quality of his performances were enough to convince Pellegrini they could cope with the loss of Santi Carzola, widely considered their best player, and he was sold to Arsenal.

He made his full debut for Spain and was becoming known as one of the finest young players in Europe. He had technical ability, appreciation of the game and the ability to see things on a football pitch that others simply can’t.

He joined Real Madrid in 2013, despite interest from City, and has continued to develop. However, there has often been a feeling he isn’t a first-team regular, rather a player on the fringes and part of the supporting cast.

A move would hardly be a surprise.

Potentially, he could go on to become the finest playmaker in the game. His vision is outstanding; a player capable of seeing the game with total clarity. But it’s his passing that has always been his most potent weapon. Few players can slide a ball through to team-mates in the way that he can, with perfectly weighted precision that almost always goes where he wants it to.

Quite how well he would fit into Guardiola’s style remains up for debate. Guardiola likes intense pressing. Isco is far more concerned with floating into pockets of space and waiting for an opportunity to receive the ball and do damage, rather than chasing in packs to win it back.

But there can be no doubting his talent. His is a natural game, the kind that few can dream of having. His appreciation of space, his touch, his vision and, most of all, his passing, mark him out as being one of the most talented players around.

He's a joy to watch and would be an asset to almost any side.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2015/16 season. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @RobPollard.