Pep Guardiola: Manchester City Considering '3 or 4' Midfield Transfer Targets

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has spoken about the kind of midfielder the club are seeking to sign and has said they have already identified "three or four" potential targets.

City have one of the most complete squads in the Premier League, although they do lack a natural replacement for their star holding midfielder Fernandinho.

As a result, there has been speculation aplenty about the English champions making a move for another player in this area, and Guardiola outlined what he wants from a new acquisition, per Sam Lee of Goal.

"We need a guy who has physicality, can read where our spaces are to attack," said the City boss. "As many things as he can do, the better. It's not easy to find one player who can do everything."

When asked if the club had anyone in mind for this role, Guardiola said "yeah we've seen many" and revealed "there are three or four we are looking at, searching for that position."

Here's more of what the City boss had to say on his plans to replace Fernandinho:

According to Lee, after missing out on Chelsea midfielder Jorginho in the summer, City are exploring different options. Ajax starlet Frenkie de Jong is said to still be under consideration despite links to Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona, as is Lyon's Tanguy Ndombele and Wolverhampton Wanderers' Ruben Neves.

Fernandinho has been a mainstay of the City team in recent years, and during a recent absence from the team, Guardiola saw his side falter.

The 33-year-old Brazilian provided a reminder of just how influential he can be recently with a masterful display in the 2-1 win over Liverpool:

City do have Ilkay Gundogan who can step in at the base of midfield, albeit he's more effective in an advanced role, while occasionally John Stones has been pushed forward from centre-back. However, there's no player available to Guardiola who is stylistically similar to Fernandinho.

The players mentioned as targets would all be exciting options for City, as they're young, all technically proficient and have the attributes to be moulded into a similar player to Fernandinho.

De Jong has caught the eye for Ajax in recent seasons and has been linked with some high-profile clubs.

According to David Anderson of the Daily Mirror, the Dutchman is poised to move to PSG, but he's previously shared his admiration of Guardiola:

Ndombele and Neves have been used in more advanced areas so far in their career, but as they develop and mature, both would be adept at slotting into the base of the City midfield. With the likes of David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva in support, it would potentially be a smooth transition.

Still, Fernandinho's experience, energy and edge would be tough to replace. In an ideal world, Guardiola would get one of his selected targets in in the summer to work alongside the Brazilian before eventually succeeding him in the coming years.