Manchester City have long been in the market for a defensive midfielder to replace the ageing Fernandinho and the departed Yaya Toure.

They attempted to sign Fred back in January, only to lose out on the Brazilian to rivals United who signed him for £52m this summer.

Jorginho was another target of theirs, but the Italian chose instead to follow boss Maurizio Sarri to Chelsea.

It leaves City with relatively thin defensive midfield options ahead of the new season. But manager Pep Guardiola might well have found a solution.

The Spaniard revealed this week that he is considering using defender John Stones in a defensive midfield role, a shocking revelation.

Stones starred for England during the World Cup this summer, but has found his appearances under Guardiola limited in recent times due to strict competition with Nicolas Otamendi and Vincent Kompany.

But speaking to reporters this week, Guardiola revealed he could use Stones in a more advanced role.

“John made an excellent World Cup and showed again his personality. I was happy to see him in the last 10 or 15 minutes like a holding midfielder. John maybe can play there. We will see what’s going on in the future,” said Guardiola.

“In the Premier League there are a huge amount of games and everybody will be involved. John has to know he has to play at a good level because Vincent and Nico are there, and they are going to play.

“Then, they have to play good. In the higher teams in the top tier, when they play in all competitions, you need this kind of competition.”