Man City make huge offer for Rodri replacement Warren Zaire-Emery

The Citizens made a great start to their Premier League title defence in the first nine games of the season but their recent form has seen them slip off the pace.

Man City were unbeaten in their first nine matches of the Premier League campaign but they have now lost two in a row to drop five points behind leaders Liverpool.

They have also lost an unprecedented four games in a row in all competitions under Pep Guardiola with their second-half performance in their defeat to Brighton particularly bad.

Guardiola's side are struggling without Rodri in the middle of the park after the Spaniard - who recently won the Ballon d'Or, picked up a serious knee injury against Arsenal on September 22 with a torn anterior cruciate ligament ruling him out for the season.

A report on Sunday claimed that Guardiola has four demands to remain as Man City boss for another year, which included holding on to Rodri amid reported interest from Real Madrid.

And now reports in Spain are claiming that Man City have already made PSG an 'offer' of 120m (£100m) to sign Zaire-Emery in the January transfer window.

The Premier League side have 'set their sights on one of the most promising talents in French football' with the dominant 18-year-old midfielder breaking into the PSG first-team over the last few seasons.

Man City are 'leading the race for his signing' with the Citizens boss seeing the France international 'as an ideal piece to strengthen their midfield' with the youngster having the 'perfect profile to adapt to Guardiola's philosophy, who is constantly looking to incorporate players who fit into his dynamic and attacking game'.

PSG will be in no rush to sell Zaire-Emery with the 18-year-old having almost five years to run on his existing contract but a transfer to Man City 'could become one of the big moves of the next transfer market'.

Former Man City defender Richard Dunne is predicting an exciting Premier League title race this season with Chelsea potentially having a say before the end of the campaign.

Dunne told Gambling Zone: "With the way the season has started, I think there's going to be maybe a couple more teams who are capable of putting themselves in the title race with the likes of Liverpool, Man City and Arsenal because the league is so competitive and every team is capable of taking points and winning games.

"Chelsea can keep themselves involved. They seem to have really got themselves together for the first time in ages, because for the last few years, they were all over the place. They've really got themselves together, they're playing really well and they've obviously got a really strong squad. I think they can put together a decent season this year.

"We know the issues that Man City and Arsenal have had in terms of not being at their best this season. I think that will happen to Liverpool at some stage in the season as well; they will have a little dip.

"I think the gap will be closer between the top teams this season. I think the season is set up for an exciting title race and hopefully there will be three or four involved in it."

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