Manchester City Set to Pursue Ajax Left-Back Nicolas Tagliafico in January

Manchester City are poised to pursue a new left-back in the January window and have identified Ajax's Nicolas Tagliafico as a potential target.

Tagliafico was an option for several Premier League clubs in the summer - namely Leicester, Chelsea and Manchester United - but failed to secure a move away from the Dutch capital.

The Foxes replaced Ben Chilwell, who moved to Stamford Bridge, with the versatile Timothy Castagne, while United settled for Porto's Alex Telles on deadline day.

City were another side seemingly in desperate need of a left-back in the recently closed window but they failed to make an addition.

Nevertheless, Pep Guardiola did bolster his defence via the arrivals of Benfica's Ruben Dias and Bournemouth's Nathan Ake. Ferran Torres was also brought in to provide even more depth in attacking areas.

According to The Sun, City and Guardiola did look at signing Tagliafico in the summer but the addition of the Argentine depended on whether they could find a buyer for Oleksandr Zinchenko. The Ukrainian, though, was determined to stay at the Etihad and fight for his place against the woefully inconsistent Benjamin Mendy.

Now, it's understood the Cityzens plan on swooping for Tagliafico in January in a deal which could be worth around the £20m mark. Although, Ajax were looking for £35m for the 28-year-old in the summer - a valuation which forced several potential suitors into pursuing alternative options.

The player himself is said to be keen on a switch to the Premier League and Guardiola is a supposed admirer of the Argentine full-back due to the period he's spent playing in a Total Football system at Ajax.

Tagliafico arrived in Amsterdam in 2018, joining from Independiente in his homeland, and immediately became a pivotal member in Erik ten Hag's free-flowing side.

He was the starting left-back during Ajax's enchanting passage through to the Champions League semi-finals in 2018/19.