Man City set to spend another £110m on Busquets and Van Dijk

Despite spending close to £200m this summer to strengthen his squad, Sky Blues boss Pep Guardiola hasn't finished his shopping spree and Talksport claims he is "preparing an ambitious move for Barcelona star Sergio Busquets".

Taking its cue from Spanish outlet Onda Cero, Talksport says that Guardiola - who was instrumental in developing Busquets during his time in charge at the Camp Nou - now wants to bring the veteran midfielder to the Etihad.

Following Fernando's recent departure to Turkish outfit Galatasaray, City are under-staffed in the middle of the park and apparently Guardiola is going to make "an audacious swoop" for the 29-year-old Busquets in the coming days.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

However, City will have to fork out a fair sum for the Spain international given that he's still got two years left on his Barca deal, and it's not likely that the English side would see much change from £50m for Busquets.

Meanwhile the International Business Times suggests that Guardiola might join the race to sign Virgil van Dijk from Southampton. In recent days the disgruntled Dutch defender, who handed in a transfer request at the start of the week, has been linked with Liverpool and Chelsea but the IBT believes City are primed to table a £60m bid for Van Dijk.

The website notes that for all their lavish spending City still lack a "world class centre-back", and says Guardiola has identified the Saints stopper as the man to add some ballast to his back-four after their fragility last season cost them credibility on the European stage.