Manchester City providing ‘stern competition’ to sign defender in January

 

There are claims in the Turkish media Besiktas are chasing Bayern Munich defender Holger Badstuber, but face stern competition from Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola is keen to make some reinforcements during the January transfer window, and his former Bayern player is one of the players he is reportedly looking at.

Fanatik report Besiktas need to beat Manchester City to land the German defender in this transfer window. Fanatik says Guardiola is planning a 6 month loan deal for Badstuber and Manchester City’s presence is making things difficult for Besiktas.

Badstuber’s injuries have meant he’s only played 30 Bundesliga games for Bayern since the 2012/13 season. It also seems Ancelotti is not favouring him with summer signing Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng as his preferred pairing in the centre of defence.

Guardiola’s past working experience with Badstuber is a good factor for City, but Besiktas may be a better option if the wants more regular first team football.

Manchester City’s defensive record is a huge concern for Guardiola as they’ve conceded 22 goals in their opening 20 games.

Guardiola will be without his captain Vincent Kompany for a long period due to injury and with the inconsistency of Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones, Badstuber is an option.