Man City are competing with Premier League rivals Chelsea for the signing of Leicester City defender Ben Chilwell, according to reports.
It's been a poor first-half of the season for City - the worst, in fact, since Pep Guardiola took charge - and they find themselves 14 points behind Liverpool in top spot.
While City have been just as potent in attack, scoring six more times than Liverpool, it's instead their defence that has been the problem.
The Blues were already short on numbers when they decided against replacing departed captain Vincent Kompany and a series of injuries to Aymeric Laporte, John Stones, Alexs Zinchenko and Benjamin Mendy has often left Pep Guardiola short of options.
The January transfer window will open wide once again on Wednesday and while Guardiola has insisted there will be no additions that hasn't stopped reports linking him with new defenders.
According to The I, City 'want to sign' Leicester left-back Chilwell but face competition from Chelsea.
City were linked with the 23-year-old in the summer but decided against spending big on a new left-back, re-signing Angelino and putting faith in Mendy instead.
Despite already playing in 14 games, his second highest tally for a season at City, Mendy has so far failed to rediscover his early form and made a costly mistake in the 3-2 defeat at Wolves.
This may lead to City reigniting their interest in Chilwell though it's claimed that the Foxes 'have no intention of letting Chilwell leave in January' and he is expected to cost 'at least £60m – or even more if a bidding war erupts between the two super-rich clubs' in the summer.
Meanwhile, Chilwell isn't the only Leicester defender said to be on City's radar, according to reports.
Duo Jonny Evans and Caglar Soyunchu are 'among a number of centre-back options being considered' by the club, according to Sky Sports News.
They also name Bournemouth's Nathan Ake as a possible signing but they once again face competition from Chelsea, as his former club have a buy-back clause.
