But let’s start with the transfer gossip, which remains rife, despite Pep Guardiola’s repeated assertion we aren’t planning to make any signings this month.
According to the Mirror, Gremio striker Everton Soares is the subject of interest from City scouts.
“Brazilian striker Everton Soares has fuelled rumours he could complete a move to the Premier League after reports of a £50m bid from Manchester City,” writes Rich Jones.
“Reports in Brazil suggest the Gremio striker has been the subject of a big-money bid from Pep Guardiola‘s side as they look to bring the highly-rated striker to Europe.
“And the talk of a transfer has been sparked further after the 22-year-old unfollowed his current club on Instagram and changed his profile picture from a photo of him in club action to an image of him representing Brazil.
“Representatives of the player have claimed the unfollowing of Gremio was an accident as they “cleaned” his social media accounts.
“But it has nonetheless put the rumour mill into overdrive as he ponders a chance to link up with Guardiola in Manchester.”
It seems social media account activity is enough to fuel transfer talk these days...
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Moving on and Tyrone Marshall, writing in the Manchester Evening News, says pressure could be the key factor in determining this season’s Premier League title race.
“Liverpool have a four point advantage over the Blues heading into this weekend and victory for them over Crystal Palace on Saturday will extend that lead to seven once again when City kick-off at Huddersfield,” he writes.
“But Pep Guardiola‘s side have responded when under pressure recently. They were 10 points behind when they faced Southampton on December 30 and won and were then seven back when they played Liverpool at the Etihad. Again victory was secured when a slip-up in either game would have been fatal, according to Guardiola.
“The pressure was back on Monday night. Liverpool’s tense win at Brighton again increased the gap to seven points, but again City responded, beating Wolves 3-0. If they can do it on more time at the John Smith’s Stadium on Sunday then the advantage is firmly back with the Blues.
“Playing first can have a significant advantage. If City play second and begin seven points behind they know they can’t really afford a mistake, they are playing under pressure. But if Guardiola‘s side play first and win then Liverpool will see their lead cut to a point. The pendulum of pressure switches to Anfield.”
That’s all for this morning’s review of the back pages – but stay with us throughout the day as we bring you full coverage of Guardiola’s weekly press conference.
And don’t forget, you can get minute-by-minute updates of Sunday’s game at Huddersfield via our Matchday Centre right here on mancity.com.
