Manchester City eye surprise move for former Chelsea defender

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is planning a major clear out in the summer and has earmarked a surprise move for Southampton left-back Ryan Bertrand at the end of the season, reports The Daily Telegraph.

Guardiola’s side have lost four of their last eight matches in the Premier League after they were thumped 4-0 by Everton on Sunday and now face a real fight to even finish in the top four this season.

City spent more than £160m on new players for Guardiola in the summer but appear to have taken a step backwards under the Spaniard with another huge spend expected at the end of the season.

The Citizens are still planning to make a move for Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk at the end of the season but Guardiola could eye a double raid on the south coast outfit with Bertrand now a surprise target.

Aleksandar Kolarov, 31, made a great start to the season but his performances have tailed off completely in recent months, while 31-year-old Gael Clichy also does not appear to be the answer to their problems on the left side of defence.

Guardiola would ideally want to sign full-back combination Kyle Walker and Danny Rose in the summer but is likely to fail in his quest to prize them away from Tottenham and is now weighing up a summer move for Bertrand.

The 27-year-old only signed a new five-year deal last summer so City would need to pay big in order to land the England international, particularly if they look to strip Southampton of Van Dijk as well.

Only Sofiane Boufal (26) has had more unsuccessful touches of the ball in the Premier League for Southampton this season than Bertrand (25).

For more stats on Ryan Bertrand, click here to visit his WhoScored player page