Man City’s Danilo signing shows Pep Guardiola really does mean business
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Pep Guardiola loves to win trophies, though he found that tough going in his first year at Manchester City.
The Spaniard is hell-bent on making amends second time around, however.
He’s already spent over £100m this summer on Bernardo Silva, Ederson Moraes and Kyle Walker respectively.
But it’s the imminent acquisition of Danilo from Real Madrid which is the real indicator of how serious Pep wants to win silverware this term.
Having usurped Chelsea in the race for the Brazilian, Guardiola is about to welcome a second right-sided defender to the Etihad.
Danilo’s arrival, coupled with Walker’s £50m fee, takes Pep’s right-back splurge to a whopping £75m.
And that’s an awful lot of money on two players for the same position.
But it shows you exactly what Pep is planning this term – and that’s a serious European assault while juggling a domestic title tilt.
Guardiola knows that solely winning the Premier League won’t make him a legend at City, they’ve already been there and done that.
It’s in the Champions League where Pep’s legacy will be won or lost.
Success in Europe has eluded the Citizens since the Abu Dhabi Group took over the club almost 10 years ago.
They’ve seen Manchester United and Chelsea reach the Champions League final in that time, while that pair have also reached the Europa League final, along with Liverpool.
City’s sole European success is the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1970.
Their modern struggles in Europe are stopping them evolving into that A* group of the globe’s elite football clubs, alongside United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and Bayern Munich.
This is why Pep has spent so heavily on two players in one position.
It’s a huge indicator that he wants immense strength in depth in key areas, in order to challenge on multiple fronts.
He wants both Walker and Danilo fit and fresh when April comes around, powering up and down the right flank when there’s a Premier League and, crucially, a Champions League still to play for.
City have come a long way in the past decade, but they’re yet to successfully scale Europe’s heights, and that’s what Pep is hoping to change, starting with two right-backs for £75m.
Ladbrokes Latest Betting:
Man City outright odds
Premier League – 9/5
Champions League – 11/1
FA Cup – 5/1
EFL Cup – 11/2
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
