When Manchester City beat Bournemouth 1-0 at the weekend to move back within a point of leaders Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table, Pep Guardiola fielded four recognised centre-backs.
John Stones nominally lined up as a right-back but often shifted into midfield when City had the ball, with 'left-back' Nathan Ake duly tucking into a back three alongside Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji. Summer signing Josko Gvardiol may have started, but he's currently unavailable through injury.
Despite the breadth of options he already at his disposal, Guardiola seems keen to sign yet another centre-half this summer given their importance in his system. It's already been reported that City hold an interest in Atalanta's Giorgio Scalvini and have "asked for information" ahead of his anticipated departure "next summer".
Significantly, City's local rivals Manchester United have also been trying to sign Scalvini, going as far as to make contact with Atalanta over a potential deal. Now, though, it seems there's a chance that the reigning champions could hijack the deal.
Big update on Manchester move for Scalvini
According to Italian outlet Inter Live, via Sport Witness, Manchester City are now the favourites to sign Scalvini. The seven-time Premier League champions are looking "best equipped" to do the deal right now and are "preparing to steal" him ahead of rival suitors like United and Inter.
Guardiola has been following Scalvini himself and believes he'd be a good fit for his side, and a price tag of €40m (£34m) looks doable for City. The player himself is apparently receptive to the idea of a switch to the Etihad.
City eye Harry Maguire revenge
It's no surprise that multiple top teams are in the race for Scalvini, who made the top 10 in last year's Golden Boy rankings alongside the likes of Jude Bellingham, Jamal Musiala and Gavi and won the award for best under-21 Italian player at the ceremony.
1
Jude Bellingham
Borussia Dortmund/Real Madrid
99.9
2
Jamal Musiala
Bayern Munich
96.1
3
Xavi Simons
PSV Eindhoven/RB Leipzig*
93.9
4
Gavi
Barcelona
93.8
5
Antonio Silva
Benfica
92.9
6
Alejandro Balde
Barcelona
91.0
7
Florian Wirtz
Bayer Leverkusen
87.3
8
Benjamin Sesko
RB Salzburg/RB Leipzig
84.6
9
Giorgio Scalvini
Atalanta
82.3
10
Rasmus Hojlund
Atalanta/Manchester United
81.9
Inevitably, the battle between the two Manchester clubs for a highly-rated centre-half conjures memories of the Harry Maguire transfer saga in 2019, when City lost out to their nemeses. Maguire says he held talks with Guardiola himself before deciding to join United instead in an £80m transfer.
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Real Madrid are also interested in snapping him up.
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Things haven't really worked out for the Englishman at Old Trafford, with United even agreeing a deal to sell him to West Ham for £30m last summer, so many City fans may feel they had a lucky escape. That doesn't mean, however, that they won't be determined to exact their revenge by landing Scalvini at the expense of Erik ten Hag.