Pep Guardiola has already explained why Declan Rice could be Man City’s ideal summer signing

There will be no shortage of players linked to Manchester City this summer, but few possess the qualities needed to immediately step into a Pep Guardiola side, and fewer still could plug a genuine gap in the team, but in Declan Rice the treble-winners may have identified their ideal target.

The West Ham United skipper is a target for City, while reports indicate remaining in London and joining Arsenal is Rice’s preferred option, the prospect of playing in the world’s greatest side, under the game’s preeminent manager, could prove persuasive.

Midfield looks like it will be the area of City’s 2022/23 side which undergoes the most surgery this summer. Ilkay Gundogan’s departure to Barcelona should be confirmed within days, while Mateo Kovacic’s arrival is expected to be announced early next week. There’s still a possibility that Bernardo Silva moves on, which could leave Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne as the only remaining midfielders from this season to next, excluding Kalvin Phillips, of course, something Guardiola did for the entirety of the campaign.

Phillips’ arrival simply hasn’t worked and while there’s a feeling he will play a bigger role next term, it’s remarkable that City managed to play 61 matches in ‘22/23 while essentially using just four midfielders. That certainly wasn’t the plan, and in February Guardiola insisted that Phillips would need to play a bigger role over the final months, adding that Rodri ‘cannot play all the games’.

It’s why Rice’s addition makes seems so logical in the midst of such midfield uncertainty, and the England international would add bona fide quality to City’s options in the middle. At 24, a £100m outlay seems well worth it, and the champions aren’t short of finances after making record-breaking sales in the last two summers and topping up their coffers with Champions League-winning income.

Rice is adept at shielding a back four and would bring an added intensity and mettle to the centre of the park. He’s also skilled on the ball and is comfortable advancing in possession, while the West Ham skipper has already showcased his leadership qualities as he drove West Ham to European glory this season.

The need for additional midfielders also became apparent over the final months of ‘22/23 as, in his desire to offer greater control in the middle and keep attackers higher up the pitch, Guardiola began deploying John Stones as in a quasi defender-midfielder role. The City boss isn’t one for fixed positions - Nathan Ake starts at centre-back and then pushes out left when defending, Rodri often drops into defence and Silva played left-back, holding midfield, attacking midfield and right-wing at various stages this season.

In Rice, Guardiola may have found the perfect accomplice alongside Rodri, with the 24-year-old beginning his career as a centre-back. A partnership of Rodri and Rice would offer the ironclad protection needed for Guardiola’s new-fangled back three, and should be able to carry out all of the Catalan’s complicated requests, albeit Rice may need a slight period of adaptation.

It’s hard to see how, after losing Gundogan, City’s midfield could look stronger next season, but the arrival of Rice - a player Guardiola claimed in May was ‘exceptional’ - alongside Kovacic, could enhance perhaps the greatest side in English football history.