Manchester City want to sign Tanguy NDombele after identifying the Lyon midfielder as their preferred long-term replacement for Fernandinho, claims The Daily Telegraph.
City head coach Pep Guardiola was keen to sign a new central midfielder in the summer but missed out on Fred to Manchester United and Jorginho to Chelsea.
The reigning Premier League champions will address that problem in January and have already been heavily linked with moves for Ajax starlet Frankie de Jong.
However, Ajax sporting director Marc Overmans has already ruled out any January outgoings in the last week and City will reportedly now step up their pursuit in NDombele.
Tottenham have previously been mooted with a move for the highly-rated 21-year-old but City are determined to land the £40m-rated prospect.
The need to bolster their midfield options has been made more pressing following news Kevin De Bruyne faces six weeks on the sidelines with another knee injury.
De Bruyne has suffered knee ligament damage to both knees this season and Guardiola wants to leave no stone unturned in their pursuit of successive Premier League titles.
Of the 32 players to attempt at least 100 dribbles in Ligue 1 since the start of last season, only Naim Sliti (75.6%) and Marcus Thuram (73.5%) have better success rates than NDombele (73.4%).
