Welcome to the City Is Ours daily round-up, your daily dose of Manchester City news that you might have missed.
City's pursuit of a replacement for Sergio Aguero dominated the back pages over the summer, and with every big club in Europe set to battle it out for the signing of Erling Haaland, Pep Guardiola is already considering other options.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid are monitoring a City youngster and Barcelona are already plotting their next move should their Raheem Sterling chase hit the buffers...
Barcelona consider Sterling alternatives
The speculation surrounding Sterling's future at City doesn't look like cooling any time soon, yet ESPN report that Barcelona are already searching for alternative options.
It's understood that Chelsea duo Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner are on Xavi's January wish list, though Sterling remains their main priority.
The report adds that Barca are unwilling to pay the sort of money required to prise Sterling away from City and so have been forced to assess their options.
Our view: In all honesty, if Barca can't afford Sterling then I can't see them being able to afford either Ziyech or Werner.
Both arrived at Stamford Bridge for hefty fees and Chelsea are unlikely to be willing to let either leave on cut-price deals given their respective contracts have plenty of time left to run.
I'd be quite happy to see them turn their attention elsewhere as I do see a future for Sterling at City, but I'm not sure either Werner or Ziyech are the answer.
Guardiola plots Haaland backup plan
City could turn their attention to Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri in the summer should a deal for Erling Haaland fail to materialise, according to Fichajes (via Sport Witness ).
The report claims that the 24-year-old Moroccan striker is available for €50 million (£41.2 million) but is not the Premier League champions' primary target.
En-Nesyri has directly contributed towards five goals in nine games across all competitions this season for the La Liga side, despite playing an average of just 59.4 minutes per game.
Our view: Obviously Haaland would be the ideal summer signing for City and En-Nesyri would be a decent addition, but the report notes the Sevilla forward isn't at the top of Guardiola's wish list.
Given City's extraordinary financial muscle, I'd be surprised if En-Neysri did arrive as the replacement for Aguero.
Real Madrid plan Man City raid
Real Madrid have been monitoring City loanee Pedro Porro for quite some time now and it seems the La Liga outfit are keen to follow up on their original interest, according to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo.
Porro, who joined City in 2019 from Girona for approximately £11 million, has featured 15 times for Sporting Lisbon during the second season of his two-season loan move to the Portuguese side.
Our view: Porro seems to be drawing plenty of plaudits during his time in Portugal and I'd be surprised if Guardiola wasn't desperate to get him back to the Etihad Stadium.
That being said, Sporting do have the option of making the deal permanent for a fee of around £7 million, so it may be the case that City have already accepted he won't be returning to the club and Real will need to negotiate with Sporting if indeed the Portuguese outfit decide to trigger the clause in his loan deal and make the move permanent.
Do you want to see City keep ho ld of Pedro Porro? Follow our City Is Ours trends writer Jake Stokes on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
