Manchester City Fan View: Guardiola's ambition - ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK

Manchester City and Pep Guardiola got their summer transfer business up-and-running almost as soon as last season finished. Despite signings being done early, it is the continued pursuit of an attacker that should really send shockwaves through the Premier League.

It felt like the Blues announced the acquisition of Bernardo Silva from AS Monaco almost as soon as the last ball of the campaign was kicked. It then didn’t take too long for them to bring in Ederson Moraes, making him the most expensive goalkeeper in history.

Since then, expensive deals for three full-backs have been confirmed. Kyle Walker, Benjamin Mendy and Danilo have all moved to Manchester. Another defender should still join them, given that all four of last season’s full-backs have moved on to pastures new.

The reasons for targeting these players are obvious. We know City’s defensive problems last year were well documented and the summer re-shuffle has seen slow, ageing players replaced by younger, much more dynamic counterparts.

Exciting though that expensive recruitment dash has been for Blues’ fans, it’s the tantalising thought of what could still come that should really have us salivating, and rivals quaking in their boots. Despite already having a wealth of attacking talent, Pep Guardiola wants to add even more to his squad.

It has been well known all summer that City are very keen on giving Arsenal a big wad of cash in exchange for Alexis Sanchez, but now an alternative has emerged. Pep has all-but confirmed that Monaco’s Kylian Mbappe is a target.

City are blessed with attacking talent; Sergio Agüero, Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sané, David Silva, Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne are all going to be vying for positions this season and each will have to deal with being rotated. The need for Sanchez or Mbappe is a demonstration of the hunger of Pep to have a squad ready to play right to the end of every competition this term.

If they are successful with either purchase, the Blues will either bring in an experienced winner, doggedly determined to fight for every ball in every game and, presumably, ready to make up for time wasted at Arsenal by winning the Premier League in Manchester. Failing that, they will pay a world record for one of the most precociously talented youngsters on the world stage.

City would survive without another attacking player. But the clear aim is to bring one in, and that should scare every other team in the Premier League and beyond; Pep’s first term is out of the way and he won’t settle for anything less than the best from this point on. He’s targeting silverware – all of it.

We are already witness a new beast – the defensive restructuring has seen to that. If City do add Sanchez or Mbappe to the squad, the rest of the Premier League will be casting a worried eye at the Etihad Stadium this season, of that there is no doubt.