Welcome to the latest edition of the City Is Ours daily round-up, where we take a look at some of the best Manchester City stories you might have missed.
Hold onto your hats, folks, because today we haven't got a single story relating to City's pursuit of a striker. Sound the klaxon!
Former City midfielder Nigel de Jong has named one of the men he thinks could be in line to replace Pep Guardiola, while one of City's mooted targets has told his current club that he'll be leaving on a free transfer in the summer.
And finally, City's win over Brentford saw them stretch their lead at the top of the table to eight points and one pundit has claimed the title race is already over...
De Jong names potential Pep replacement
Guardiola has teased us recently by suggesting there's a possibility he could leave the Etihad in 2023, with his ambition of managing at a World Cup still on the agenda.
Replacing Guardiola will be a tall order and former City man De Jong has named one of the managers he believes should be in the frame.
Patrick Vieira enjoyed a short stint at City towards the end of his playing career before taking up a coaching role, and De Jong believes the Crystal Palace boss would be a solid candidate.
"He [Vieira] led by example as a player and it looks like he does the same as a coach," De Jong told Ladbrokes . "The transition from player to coach is so different, but Patrick has so far enjoyed great success with Crystal Palace.
"He’s a number one contender for the Manchester City job, for sure."
Our view: There's definitely a lot to like about the way Vieira has got Palace playing and he's someone who knows the club, but given how enormous the task of replacing Guardiola is going to be, you wonder whether it would be too big a job.
We're not totally against the idea but his time at Palace will be a big indicator of whether he's up to the task.
Zakaria on the move
Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has claimed Denis Zakaria has already informed Borussia Mönchengladbach that he'll be leaving at the end of the season.
The Swiss midfielder will be available on a free given his deal is set to expire next summer, meaning City could potentially snap up one of their reported targets without having to shell out a transfer fee.
It's reported that Bayern Munich, Juventus, Barcelona and two English clubs are monitoring Zakaria, though there's no word on whether City are one of the two unnamed clubs.
Our view: City were linked with a move for Zakaria very recently and the deal seems to make a lot of sense given Fernandinho is expected to bid farewell to the Etihad next summer and a couple of City's midfielders are the 'wrong side' of 30.
That being said, it's unlikely he'll be promised regular game time at City and so Guardiola will have a job on his hands if he's to convince the 25-year-old to choose City over a plethora of Europe's elite clubs.
Title race over?
You know the drill, when a TalkSPORT pundit says something it's usually right. That's the rule, isn't it? Okay, moving on.
Gabriel Agbonlahor has claimed the Premier League title race is already over following Liverpool's defeat to Leicester on Tuesday and City's defeat of Brentford the following night.
He also made the audacious claim that City are turning the Premier League into the Bundesliga in that they're just too good for the other sides in the league.
"Manchester City are the Bayern Munich of the Premier League and that’s what it is turning into," he told TalkSPORT .
“Bayern Munich have a winter break now and they are now nine points ahead of Dortmund.
“Manchester City, now with the goal differences, will be nine points ahead of Chelsea and Liverpool and it is going to be turning into that league. They will run away with it now.”
Our view: Well, I mean it's nice to be told how good City are but can we not say stuff like this now?
There's still a long way to go this season - most teams haven't even played half of their games yet - so let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Do you think City will sign Zakaria? Follow City Is Ours content editor Ross Jackson on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
