Manchester City Transfer News: Latest Virgil van Dijk, Lucas Hernandez Rumours

Manchester City will reportedly battle Premier League leaders Chelsea for the right to sign Southampton centre-back Virgil van Dijk, a player valued at £55 million.

The Citizens are said to prefer waiting until next summer's transfer window before making a bid. However, Chelsea's interest could spark a move during January, according to Simon Jones of the Daily Mail:

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Southampton are keen to keep the Dutch centre-back for this season despite the 25-year-old attracting such interest and will demand around £55million.

That should prove a substantial obstacle for most, despite rumours of a £25m buyout clause, but Chelsea and City have the finance and aren't afraid to spend it.

City though are reluctant to make additions in January yet are primed to move should Chelsea step up their own interest in Van Dijk with Antonio Conte's staff weighing up a number of options.

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City's keenness to sign Van Dijk is understandable considering their many issues at the back this season. The Manchester club owns the most generous defence in the top four, having conceded 20 times through 18 matches, per the division's official website.

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Manager Pep Guardiola hasn't been able to find combinations that work at the heart of the defence. It hasn't helped that big-money summer signing John Stones has struggled and Vincent Kompany still can't stay fit.

Those issues have meant Guardiola has been forced to rely on the uninspiring Nicolas Otamendi. He's also tried converting full-back Aleksandar Kolarov into a central defender, an experiment yielding only mixed success at best.

By contrast, Van Dijk has established himself as arguably the premier centre-back in England's top flight. The Dutchman is quick, powerful and intelligent.

Van Dijk can boss strikers on the deck or in the air while also boasting quality technique on the ball. The latter attribute is something Guardiola would insist on for his possession-based game at City.

It's little wonder so many top clubs are pursuing Van Dijk. However, he tarnished his reputation slightly during the Saints' recent 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur.

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Van Dijk netted the opener with a thumping header but was exposed several times defensively, according to Darren Lewis of the Daily Mirror. 

Yet Lewis doesn't think the big clubs will be put off wanting to wage war for Van Dijk's services during the upcoming window based on one dodgy performance.

Frankly, City can ill afford to wait until the summer to bolster a defence shaky enough to prove fatal in this season's title race. Guardiola should move for a quality defender with Premier League experience like Van Dijk now.

City Had Summer Bid Rejected for Atletico Madrid Defender

Fixing City's defence has been the priority for Guardiola since he succeeded Manuel Pellegrini last summer. Perhaps that's why the Spaniard made a summer bid for Atletico Madrid's Lucas Hernandez.

Atleti president Miguel Angel Gil Marin recently told Spanish radio station El Transistor (h/t James Robson of the Manchester Evening News) how his club received an offer from City for Hernandez and his younger brother, Theo, last summer. 

"This summer we had a very important offer from Manchester City for Lucas and Theo Hernandez,” Marin said. 

The elder Hernandez, 20, is versatile enough to operate at centre-back or full-back, and he is also young enough to develop his game and hone his defensive skills.

In other words, he is exactly the type of promising youngster City need to refresh an ageing defence too often let down by injuries and poor form.

Guardiola couldn't sign Hernandez, but he should push ahead to beat the competition to Van Dijk. He's the building block City's squad need at the back.