Ross Barkley is a fantastic footballer.

The home-grown Everton midfielder has all the attributes to be one of Europe’s finest players in the centre of the pitch. He burst on to the scene in the 2013/14 season with his power, energy and ability to shoot with either foot, and has been compared to the likes of Paul Gascoigne already.

A slot in the England squad for this summer’s European Championships in France looks nailed on, so you’d think his career his progressing rather nicely. There’s no doubt he’s doing well, but the question is can he really achieve what many think he’s capable of at Everton?

There are signs his career is beginning to stall and with this in mind FootballFanCast gives you FIVE reasons it’s time for Barkley to move on…

Martinez will not improve him

Whether Roberto Martinez even stays at the club past this summer remains to be seen, but if he does it’s unlikely Barkley is going to learn much more under his tutelage.

The Spanish manager only seems to have one way of attacking and Barkley needs more than a ‘Plan A’ to develop his game. Meanwhile defensively we’ve all seen Everton’s struggles, and if Martinez can’t help his defenders with this side of the game he’s certainly not going to help the young Liverpudlian to become more responsible in his own half of the pitch.

If Barkley wants to be the complete midfielder he can be, he needs defensive coaching and this won’t happen at Everton with Martinez.

England prospects

Barkley will more than likely travel with England to EURO 2016. He has 21 appearances and two goals to his name already for his national team, but the question is will he start?

Barkley has competition in his position from Dele Alli, Adam Lallana, Jordan Henderson and perhaps Jack Wilshere. Based on ability alone, Barkley is the best of the bunch, along with Alli, and this should therefore assure him of his place, but given he’s playing for Everton and not Arsenal or Tottenham for example this season there’s still question marks, wrongly, over whether he should make the first XI.

Not playing at the highest level regularly

Barkley is ready to play at the highest level, he’s shown it for England already that he’s capable of performing on the biggest stage.

For his career to reach the next stage, however, he needs to be playing regular European club football. This won’t be something Everton can offer at least next season, and who’s to say they will the season after that? There’s a lot of clubs ahead of the Toffees in terms of competition for European places. Suddenly, they’ve dropped behind West Ham, Southampton, Stoke and of course Leicester in the pecking order.

He’s beginning to outgrow Everton

While the Toffees have had a very poor season, Barkley has, by all accounts, had a relatively good campaign.

He has scored more goals and provided more assists, eight in both, than at any other time in his fledgling career. This is even more impressive when you consider the problems his team have faced, and it gives the clear indication that Everton are currently holding him back from what he could achieve.

Needs to be around world class players

Make no mistake Everton have good players and should be higher in the league than they are currently.

But how many of them are world-class? Barkley really could put himself in that bracket if he’s surrounded by some of the planet’s finest talents, but that’s not going to happen any time soon at Goodison Park. Even some of the best players in the world improve when they join better teams, Luis Suarez at Barcelona has somehow gone up another level since leaving Liverpool. If Barkley, at his young age, were to join a side with some genuine world-class players, his quality would skyrocket.

Euro 2016 kicks off on 10th June as hosts France play Romania at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. The French go into the tournament as one of the favourites to win the trophy exactly a month later on 10th July in the same stadium.

The European Championships have a reputation as being a concentration of quality, the tournament where there are no givens, there are no obscene scorelines, and straight away you are thrown into games between the biggest sides.

This year, however, things are a little different. The move to a 24 team format has diluted the quality in some ways, but it also prolongs the ecstasy of a top-level summer football tournament.

You don’t have to sit through Albania v Romania, for example, because it’s the last game in Group A and consequently kicking-off at exactly the same time as the potentially group-deciding France v Switzerland. This tournament will be fun to watch no matter how much the new format scares people.

Are you ready for it? Here’s a handy little guide to the 2016 European Championships in numbers…

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51

51 games played in France over 31 days: exactly one month from 10 June – 10th July.

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10

Euro 2016 will have 10 venues in 10 cities.

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24

24 teams will take part in the expanded competition.

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Three is the magic number

– France have hosted the competition three times

– Germany and Spain have both won the competition three times – the most by any nation

– The hosts have won the competition three times

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Two

The winners of Euros have won the following World Cup only twice – Germany Euro ’72 and WC ’74, Spain Euro 2008 and WC 2010.

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9

Nine different teams have won the European Championships.

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18

Euro 2016 will have 18 referees throughout the tournament.

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4

Spain beat Italy by a four goal margin in the 2012 Final. It is biggest winning margin in European Championships final.

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1.14

Juan Mata scored the fastest goal by a substitute in a European Championships final, scoring after just one minute and 14 seconds on the pitch.

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22

Euro 2012 saw the most headed goals (22) in a single European Championships finals.

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12

Champions Spain are unbeaten in 12 European Championship Finals matches.

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9

Iker Casillas and Edwin van der Sar have both kept 9 clean sheets in European Championships finals – the most by any goalkeeper.

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One

One Trophy.

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West Ham need a top striker.

It’s the worst kept secret in football and yet the Hammers are having trouble landing the marquee name that they want.

The European Championship and the Copa America haven’t helped, as by now you would imagine that most clubs would have recruited more players than they have. Especially with pre-season almost upon us.

West Ham have chased the same two strikers for most of the summer and appear to be hitting brick walls. The transfer of Michy Batshuayi appears to be mind games, as we now all know that Chelsea are closing in.

The ‘list’ that the board and manager have drawn up must surely be the longest selection of potential strikers ever, as day after day West Ham are linked with a new marksman.

Rumours had it that at one point the Hammers had decided upon the Colombia international, Carlos Bacca. Some fans, perhaps, were not all too aware of Bacca, but the more you research his stats, the more the player grows on you.

The 29-year-old (he will be 30 in September) is on the line as far as age and West Ham’s recruitment policy is concerned, but you could overlook that once you start delving into the goals scored box and his achievements.

Bacca was in prolific form for AC Milan during his first season in Serie A after signing from Sevilla last summer, but he will miss the start of pre-season after representing Colombia at the Copa America. West Ham were rumoured to have made a €20m bid for the striker, but have been unable to secure an agreement and now the Irons have competition, chiefly from Atletico Madrid.

A report from Gazzetta World states that the player’s current club are holding out for a fee of at least €30m, and they are willing to wait until August to make a decision on whether to sell him or not.

In his first season in Serie A, Bacca scored 18 goals in 38 appearances, however, the Milan side struggled and only finished in seventh place, thus missing out on a European spot – West Ham can offer the Colombian Premier League and European football.

One look at his goalscoring statistics and you start to see why other clubs are taking notice as well the Hammers. During his one season with Club Brugge he made 45 appearances and scored 28 goals, in two seasons with Sevilla he notched 34 in 72 and with Colombia he’s bagged 13 in 33 games. The man scores goals, and that’s exactly what West Ham need.

The prices keep increasing and threaten to spiral out of control as West Ham look to Batshuayi and Alexandre Lacazette, so why not go all in on a prolific striker that has been around that bit longer with more experience? Lacazette didn’t even make the France squad this summer, it has to be remembered.

At the beginning of June, Bacca’s intermediary, Sergio Barila confirmed to the Guardian: “There was an offer last week from West Ham which was rejected, so we must wait. Carlos is very happy in Milan because it is a very big club and he has enjoyed his time there so far. But they will not play in European competition next season and that could be a problem.”

While the Hammers carry on running the rule over the players on their list, they must make a decision soon and then go all out for the players they really want. To keep chasing players that appear not to want to join the London club is pointless, as the fans will consider money their only true motive for playing for their club.

Bacca looks a realistic option though.

Time for the Hammers’ board and Slaven Bilic to make a decision.

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Manchester United have been part of some of the most protracted transfer sagas this Summer.

We had to wait for them to confirm the inevitable that Zlatan Ibrahimovic would be their new striker for this season whilst the Paul Pogba deal seemed to be heading in all manner of different directions until they announced the French star had completed his return to the club from Juventus.

Surely then, there cannot be any more to come in this window? Well don’t hold your breath.

Despite Raphael Varane saying he is staying put at Real Madrid for now you never can rule out a massive bid on behalf of the Red Devils after this window. Jose Mourinho is an admirer of the young centre-half and if there’s any team that might fancy their chances of turning the deal on it’s head, it’s United.

Varane might not even be the only one, there’s plenty of other’s being linked, and here are FIVE of them…

Jose Fonte

Jose Mourinho has clearly identified that United’s defence still needs some work before the end of the window.

The Old Trafford boss is a big advocate for building from the back and after signing Eric Bailly, it looks as though Jose Fonte is also on his wishlist.

Fonte has been consistent in the Premier League for some time and also helped he national team win EURO 2016 meaning he’d be a good asset.

Fabinho

As well as at centre-half United could do with a right-back to shore up their defence. Currently Antonio Valencia is their first choice and despite his reasonable enough performances, Mourinho wants specialist players for each position – this is where Fabinho from Monaco comes in.

Reece Oxford

According to the Daily Mail the young West Ham midfielder is eager to try and sign a new contract with the club.

It’s also believed though that should any talks hit a potential snag Mourinho and United are ready and waiting to snap the England U19 international up.

It might be a slow burner this one but the Old Trafford club have already shown this Summer they’ll wait for their targets.

James Rodriguez

This one just seems to refuse to go away even when it appears a move isn’t immediately obvious.

The Colombian star has been linked with United once again this Summer and if any move did somehow come off two things would be certain.

Number one it would take another huge bid that the Red Devils are capable of and number two it would give the club no excuses if they didn’t win the league handsomely.

Gabriel Barbosa

The latest player to come from the South American country with huge things expected of him given he is both named as ‘Gabigol’ and ‘The New Neymar’ – no pressure then.

He’s scored goals for fun in the Brazilian Serie A and could forge an exciting double act with Marcus Rashford for the forseeable future.

It’s been an interesting start to the season for Liverpool, drawing one, winning one and losing one in the Premier League.

Indeed, the Reds certainly look a lot more Klopp-esque compared to last season but the German gaffer’s famous philosophy of high pressing and breakneck-paced counter-attacks hasn’t quite manifested into phenomenal results just yet.

This Saturday, the Merseysiders play hosts to Leicester City in their first home game of the season following building work at Anfield.

In theory, Liverpool should struggle against reigning Premier League champions but it seems unlikely the Foxes’ form this term will come anywhere close to the levels it reached last season.

That being said, Leicester are still tough opposition – they’ve conceded just twice so far this season – so it’s imperative Jurgen Klopp picks the perfect starting XI.

With that in mind, we’ve had a crack at selecting Klopp’s starters for Saturday. This side, lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, will claim all three points against Leicester…

GOALKEEPER – SIMON MIGNOLET

Lorius Karius is back in contention following an injury layoff but this fixture might be a little too soon for the summer signing. Goalkeeping changes should only be made if absolutely necessary and Simon Mignolet hasn’t let anyone down this season.

RIGHT-BACK – NATHANIEL CLYNE

Nathaniel Clyne’s not exactly set the world alight at Liverpool but he’s a solid performer and the fact of the matter is that the Reds don’t have any viable alternatives. The England international wasn’t called upon to face Slovakia last weekend, despite making the squad, so he should be fully fit.

The England international wasn’t called upon to face Slovakia last weekend, despite making the squad, so he should be fully fit.

CENTRE-BACK – JOEL MATIP

Joel Matip’s added some much-needed athleticism to Liverpool’s defence, boasting height and speed in equal measure, and looks like a shrewd acquisition on a free transfer.

CENTRE-BACK – DEJAN LOVREN

Dejan Lovren’s vastly improved since the turn of the year appeared to have already developed an understanding with Matip when Liverpool faced Tottenham two weekends ago. One concern, however, is that Leicester’s Jamie Vardy could catch him for pace.

One concern, however, is that Leicester’s Jamie Vardy could catch him for pace.

LEFT-BACK – JAMES MILNER

Riyad Mahrez could run makeshift defender James Milner ragged on Saturday but selecting natural left-back (or so he claims) Alberto Moreno could be equally detrimental. The former England international is an experienced leader and an incredibly well-rounded footballer, so having him on the pitch regardless of position is always an asset.

The former England international is an experienced leader and an incredibly well-rounded footballer, so having him on the pitch regardless of position is always an asset.

CENTRAL MIDFIELD – JORDAN HENDERSON

Liverpool fans are still waiting for Jordan Henderson to hit return to top gear following his lengthy injury spell last season. But the Reds captain still offers an abundance of energy in midfield and that could be pivotal against Leicester – arguably the most industrious side in the league.

But the Reds captain still offers an abundance of energy in midfield and that could be pivotal against Leicester – arguably the most industrious side in the league.

CENTRAL MIDFIELD – GEORGINIO WIJNALDUM

The Reds probably haven’t seen the best of Georginio Wijnaldum just yet but the summer signing does offer something a little different in their engine room, linking the back line to the attack with mobility and a cultured passing game.

RIGHT WING – SADIO MANE

Sadio Mane’s enjoyed a strong start to his Liverpool career and the Senegal international’s electric pace suits Jurgen Klopp’s philosophy perfectly.

He scored a stunner on the opening weekend against Arsenal and will want to get his first in front of the Anfield faithful.

ATTACKING MIDFIELD – ADAM LALLANA

Adam Lallana’s really come into his own under Jurgen Klopp at both club and international level, epitomised best by his last-minute winner for England in midweek.

Klopp needs to capitalise on that against Leicester by placing the 28-year-old at the attacking hub of midfield.

LEFT WING – PHILIPPE COUTINHO

Left wing may not be the ideal role for Philippe Coutinho but it still gives him a chance of deciding matches with lethal long-range shooting.

The Brazilian has netted twice already this season, suggesting it could become his most prolific campaign yet.

STRIKER – DANIEL STURRIDGE

Jurgen Klopp surprisingly left Daniel Sturridge out of the starting line-up to face Tottenham Hotspur two weekends ago but we want to see the England striker reinstated.

Sturridge may be a frustrating figure at times but he’s easily one of the most potent forwards in the Premier League when at his best.

Aston Villa are now a Championship side and until last night, they looked set to join dozens of other outfits destined for a stay in the second division.

Let’s face it, Villa have struggled this season and after sacking former manager Roberto Di Matteo, things appeared as chaotic as ever in the Midlands.

But last week, Steve Bruce entered the Villa Park fray and he’s had an instantaneous impact. The former Birmingham City man has helped Villa to four points in their last two games and most importantly, a first away win in an astonishing fourteen months.

It’s a run that needed to come to an end at one point or another and yesterday’s last-gasp win at Reading was proof brighter times are to come at Villa Park.

But could the result now spur Villa on to make a promotion push under their new gaffer?

With that in mind, here’s FIVE reasons Villa’s season could be about to turn around…

The confidence is finally noticeable

Anyone that saw the game yesterday evening will know that Aston Villa have finally found a little bit of swagger.

Over the past year they’ve been timid, quiet and innocuous on the pitch. But at the Madejski Stadium last night, they began to show the character needed to do well in the division.

You could hear voices shouting, leaders leading and players looking a lot more confident. This is a big step forward for Villa.

Supporters back behind them

Over 4,000 Villa fans travelled to Berkshire on Tuesday evening to back their side and give them credit, they supported their team until the very end.

In recent years, they’ve grown frustrated by the backwards football, negative playing style and abysmal defending.

But against Reading, it was clear the optimism was back in the paddocks for perhaps the first time in over a year.

The Steve Bruce factor

Whether you love him or loathe him, it’s clear that Steve Bruce has made an instant impact at the helm of Aston Villa.

He’s done this sort of work before with the likes of Birmingham City and Hull, and can surely apply those experiences to this current situation at Villa.

He’s already got his side playing with more confidence and going forward, he’ll be hoping to see more improvements.

The forwards are scoring again

Both Jonathan Kodjia and Jordan Ayew dispatched for Aston Villa at the Madejski Stadium yesterday, which would have been music to Steve Bruce’s ears.

For months, Villa have been struggling to get their forward men to find the net regularly but the signs are now there to suggest this could be about to change.

Villa boast a plethora of talent in their ranks and if they can get them firing, they could and really should be a real force this campaign.

The fantastic talent on the bench

Aston Villa brought on an unbelievable £25million of talent as second-half substitutes.

This sort of depth is going to make the Villains a real force this season, if they can get their players scoring again this weekend.

Most teams in the division would love to have the depth they do and they really should be making the most of it to get back up the table.

It’s highly likely Arsene Wenger will be waking up with a big grin on his face this morning after yesterday’s results.

Whilst Arsenal beat Swansea 3-2 at the Emirates Stadium, their title rivals Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur both dropped points. City drew at home to Everton after missing two penalties whereas Spurs left it late to get a point at The Hawthorns against West Brom.

The Gunners, meanwhile, saw off a stubborn Swansea side, looking to get a good result in Bob Bradley’s first Premier League match as their manager, with a brace from Theo Walcott and one strike from Mesut Ozil.

Goals from Gylfi Sigurdsson and Borja Baston for the Swans kept things interesting for the full ninety minutes but in truth, it was a pretty comfortable afternoon’s work despite the second-half sending off of summer signing Granit Xhaka.

A good result for Arsenal, then, and one Gunners fans can reflect on now with five images that summed up the victory…

 Walcott flies once more

The resurgence of Theo Walcott continued yesterday as he scored the opening two goals and should have had a hat-trick after hitting the bar from close range. The former Southampton man is flying down that right side with the equally as rapid Hector Bellerin. Most of the Gunners’ joy, and Swansea’s torment, came down that wing yesterday afternoon.

 Sigurdsson shows his quality

Many expected Swansea to be cannon-fodder against the Gunners but they in fact gave a good account of themselves in the 3-2 loss. In Gylfi Sigurdsson, they have a genuine match-winner and his goal, which came whilst Arsenal were looking set to run away with it, highlighted how important he’s going to be key this season.

 A shocker for Jon Moss

Moss has been under a lot of scrutiny for his recent performances and this will have done him no good. A relatively good-natured game saw Granit Xhaka receive his marching orders for what many onlookers felt was a yellow-card offence at most. The Swiss international took down Modou Barrow in a professional foul yet Moss produced the red card, leaving Xhaka – and everyone else – baffled.

 What might have been for Bradley…

The first American manager in Premier League history will be pleased with what he saw from his new side after they refused to give up on the game. They may have not been able to snatch a draw in the end but the initial signs of his tenure suggest the Welsh club are at least going to work their socks off – that could be the difference in this season’s relegation battle.

 Job Done

Despite Swansea’s refusal to roll over as they went about trying to impress their new boss, Arsenal saw the game out to win 3-2 leaving Arsene Wenger naturally pleased. With Manchester City and Tottenham both drawing to Everton and West Brom respectively, the three points has seen the Gunners go joint-top with the Citizens in the Premier League.

Crystal Palace have endured a turbulent start to their Premier League campaign and currently sit in 16th place, just one point off the bottom three.A shocking October saw them lose all three matches and they have since been defeated at Burnley, so there’s no arguing they’re in some poor form at the moment.That said, City haven’t performed miracles either recently, with only one Premier League win to their name from the last five matches.Stats like this give credence to the idea that their meeting on Saturday is unlikely to be a thriller.However, the Eagles will be hopeful that their power and strength in the attacking areas can cause damage to City’s somewhat ropy back line.With most of the City squad returning from international duty, Pardew will believe this is a real opportunity for Palace to gain at least a point. Here are three reasons why.

Palace stars will be fresh

Unlike their City counterparts, most of the Palace squad will be refreshed and ready following the international break.Very few of the Palace squad were called up to play for the national team, with star striker Christian Benteke the most notable exception.Even thought the Belgian was called up, however, he didn’t get a minute during their games against Estonia and the Netherlands  – so he should still be raring to go.City, on the other hand, will be aware that the majority of their experienced pros have been subjected to international matches such as Sergio Aguero, who had to travel to South America for Argentina’s gruelling defeat against Brazil.Their magic man in midfield, David Silva, is also a doubt after suffering a toe injury whilst training with the Spain squad.Add all of these things together and its Palace who enter the game in better shape.

City still reeling from draw with Boro

City had gone six games without victory before they put West Brom to the sword, beating the Baggies 4-0. They followed up the victory with a huge win against Barcelona, triumphing 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium.Most fans and pundits alike thought the Sky Blues had turned the corner but alas, it wasn’t to be. With City seemingly in control of proceedings against Middlesbrough, the ball fell to George Friend in the 90th minute, who provided a wonderful cross for Martin De Roon to nod in the unlikeliest of equalisers.Unlike his usual self, Guardiola appeared riled by the injustice of not holding on to a much-deserved victory. Instead, it was more dropped points at home for City, who have drawn three consecutive games at the Etihad Stadium for the first time since 2009.It also means they’ve failed to keep a clean sheet in nine of their eleven league games this season. [ad_pod id=’playwire’ align=’center’]

The crowd will be buzzing

Crystal Palace have always been seen as one of the best clubs in the Premier League in terms of atmosphere.The Palace ‘ultras’ sing from minute one to minute 90 and really intimidate the opposition.Some of you may be thinking  that if the crowd is always bouncing, why is Palace’s home record so poor – losing three and winning just one of their five home games this season.However, big clubs do not enjoy travelling to Selhurst Park because the fans are so close to the players, making it a difficult place to play your own football. The Eagles will be hopeful of making a fast start to get the fans onside.

The Emirates will be a far more relaxed place this week, as we finally say goodbye to November. The month that has cursed Arsene Wenger throughout his managerial career is gone for another 11 months.

Things could have been disastrous for the Gunners this November, with pivotal Champions League games and matches against both Tottenham and Manchester United, but they have escaped the month relatively unscathed, even if a little short on momentum.

[ffc_insert title=”An Ode to Thierry Henry” name=”Golden Goal” image=”https://www.footballfancast.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2000-10-01T000000Z_1_MT1ACI235759_RTRMADP_3_SPORT.jpg?admin” link=”https://www.footballfancast.com/premier-league/arsenal/arsenal-v-manchester-united-an-ode-to-thierry-henrys-greatest-ever-goal” link_text=”Relive a wonderstrike” ]

Performances have slipped to a level that is scarily reminiscent of Arsenal teams previous to this, mind. An additional notch of grit and resilience has made November less than appalling for Wenger’s side, with a late goal at Old Trafford, a scraped draw with Paris Saint-Germain and a hard-working victory over Bournemouth keeping the unbeaten record intact. That, in itself, is a confidence boost for a team who have so often fallen short during the periods of strife during a season. Wenger’s side look a more complete unit than previous campaigns, able to cope with a couple of injuries, as the second string shows it can still work towards result, even if the performance are not as exciting.

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When the fixture list looks quite as daunting as November had done for Arsenal, its easy to place an excess amount of importance on each fixture. This month could have been a calamity for Arsenal, it could have ended in a run of defeats and seen them drift away from title contention. That, frankly, was unlikely. Considering their previous form, this was perhaps the least that was expected from the Gunners in the month of November and they produced it. A slight gap has built from the league leaders, but they can still take comfort from the fact there is plenty of room back from Spurs in fifth place.

Other Arsenal sides could have crumbled either in some of November games or between times. They were not without their periods of peril, but – while form has dipped – Arsenal are still in with a shout of competing across multiple fronts this season. A usual crisis point for the Gunners sees far more destruction than we have witnessed to date, this is comparative small fry. So much has gone wrong for Arsenal over the last decade, it is easy to see any minor blip as a season defining crisis.

This is far from that. If Arsenal see this as their worst period of the 2016/17 season, they are set for an enormously successful campaign. The November curse is still very much present, but this team is hardened to adversity and must now look ahead to a positive December.

We’re now approaching the halfway stage of the Premier League season and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola can be quietly confident regarding his side’s chances of claiming a third Premier League title in five years.

Nonetheless, before Guardiola can consider domestic honours, he must fix some glaring issues that continue to halt the progression of his City side.

The Citizens faithful have been crying out for the Spaniard to make significant changes to this ageing side before the gap between themselves and Chelsea at the business end of the table widens further.

Not only are City sitting pretty in the league, but they have also managed to qualify for the last 16 in the Champions where they will take on AS Monaco for a place in the quarter-final.

For Guardiola to ensure the club’s progression continues, he must overcome these THREE issues next month when the transfer window will be wide open…

Fill the void left by Ilkay Gundogan

Last week when Manchester City confirmed the loss of Ilkay Gundogan for the remainder of the season through a knee injury, and many City supporters have since feared for the club’s chances of claiming success.

Nonetheless, with the January window fast approaching, a potential injury couldn’t have come at a better time in terms of finding a replacement.

In September, BILD reported Man City’s interest in Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud, and the club’s hierarchy should seriously consider a winter move for the Syrian-born midfielder.

Find a worthy centre-back pairing

For the past four years, City have struggled to find a centre-back pairing capable of taking the team towards the level of football greatly desired by the club’s owners.

Not since the days of Joleon Lescott and Vincent Kompany have City’s centre-backs looked like being Premier League-winning quality.

Since 2009, City have spent £177million on central-defenders to partner Vincent Kompany yet the struggles have continued since 2012’s league title success.

Overcome the ageing full-back issue

In the summer of 2017, Guardiola has three of his four regular full-backs out of contract with their deals set to expire.

The Spaniard must now find replacements suitable of coming in for Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna, and Pablo Zabaleta and very soon.

In fact, the four players are regularly at fault for many of the goals conceded by City and unless Guardiola combats the issue, the team’s chances of achieving success may be diminished.