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Pep Guardiola responds to Dani Alves rumours amid Man City and Arsenal transfer links
MANCHESTER CITY boss Pep Guardiola has all but ruled out a move for Dani Alves despite hailing him as an ‘incredible player’.
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Arsenal and Tottenham have also been linked with 36-year-old right-back who is a free agent after leaving Paris Saint-Germain at the end of last season.
Alves and Guardiola worked together at Barcelona and the pair have been persistently linked with a reunion at the Etihad.
However, Guardiola insists he is not looking for a right-back because he already has enough options in that area.
“All the important clubs in the world knows his situation and the incredible player he is,” the City manager said.
“He is an extraordinary person, but we already have two incredible full-backs.”
City have already signed two players in the current transfer window.
They broke their transfer record to bring in midfielder Rodri from Atletico Madrid in a £62.8million deal.
Brazilian left-back Angelino was also re-signed from PSV for £5m.
City were thought to be keen on bringing in a new centre-back after Vincent Kompany returned to Belgium to take over as player-manager at Anderlecht.
Leicester star Harry Maguire is understood to be their top target although cross-town rivals Manchester United are the big favourites to sign him as City are unwilling to meet the Foxes’ valuation of around £80m.
Guardiola refused to rule out any more signings but insists he is happy with the squad at his disposal.
“I like the faces we have. The team is good,” he said.
“Maybe we will sign zero, maybe one or maybe one-and-a-half.
“If we can, we will. If we don't then we can survive without a new central defender.”
Eliaquim Mangala is expected to leave if a buyer can be found. The future of Nicolas Otamendi is also in doubt as he has been strongly linked with a move away.
That would leave John Stones and Aymeric Laporte as their only recognised senior centre-backs.