Firstly, we start with The Express - as the newspaper has collated a gallery of the players with the most top flight passes in the 2017/18 campaign so far, and unsurprisingly Manchester City top the charts.
Out of the 20 players listed, five of them are from Pep Guardiola’s side.
Summer signing Kyle Walker landed in 11th position with 1307 passes, while the other four Blues were named in the top five.
David Silva sits in fifth with an impressive 1495 passes and fellow midfielder Kevin De Bruyne passed three more than El Mago to gain the fourth spot.
Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka was named in third place while Fernandinho has the second highest pass rate with 1700.
Finally, the highest! None other than the General: Nicolas Otamendi. The Argentinian has been superb for the Blues so fair this season, and it’s certainly reflected in his 1734 passes.
Next up, we take a quick look at John Motson’s ‘Team of the Year’. The broadcasting legend picked his top XI from 2017, and yet again, there were some familiar City faces named.
The top Premier League passer of the season so far, Nicolas Otamendi, was named in Motson’s starting eleven alongside team mates Kevin De Bruyne and current goal-machine Raheem Sterling.
The 72-year-old named his Team of the Year on Radio 5 Live, and the Express put the team together in picture gallery on their website.
The newspapers aren’t the only ones heaping praise on our defender, as Pep recently hailed The General as a superhero.
“We have a superman in the team,” the boss said during his recent press conference.
“Otamendi helped us absolutely. If I would like to point to a player who deserves respect for what we have done so far this season, it is Otamendi.
“Always fighting. He is a huge competitor and one of the best I have seen in my life. So important. Without him, it would have been impossible.”
Moving on from Otamendi, we look at the City transfer gossip making the back pages.
The latest rumour surrounding January signings claim that City will look towards defending pair Jonny Evans and Inigo Martinez.
Mark Critchley of the Independent wrote: “Manchester City will turn their attentions to West Bromwich Albion captain Jonny Evans and Inigo Martinez, the Real Sociedad defender, having been beaten to the signing of Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool FC.
“City will look to add some much-needed depth to the position in the January transfer window and may revive interest in 29-year-old Evans.
“West Brom rejected a £21m bid from City for the Northern Ireland international during the final days of the summer transfer window.
“The former Manchester United defender, whose contract at the Hawthorns expires at the end of next season, remains a subject of interest four months on, though City are also closely monitoring Sociedad’s Martinez.
“The 26-year-old Spaniard has a release clause in his contract believed to be worth €32m (£28.4m).”
That’s all for today, but we will be back with your match day media round-up tomorrow morning ahead of our final game of 2017 against Crystal Palace!
