Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has confirmed that his side will not be looking to sign any central midfielders before the transfer window closes.
City have already signed three players as Guardiola looks to strengthen his squad in an attempt to win back the Premier League title from Liverpool.
Nathan Ake has joined from Bournemouth defender in deal worth £41million, whilst winger Ferran Torres was signed from Valencia. Scott Carson was also re-signed on a season-long loan deal from Derby County.
But it was in midfield where City were touted to spend big money in order to improve their squad, with Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar linked with a move to the Etihad Stadium.
The Frenchman impressed as Lyon beat Guardiola's side in the Champions League quarter-final, and reports had claimed that the 2018/19 champions would attempt to sign the £50million-rated star.
Speaking ahead of their first Premier League game of the season against Wolves, however, Guardiola confirmed that he was not seeking to add another central midfielder to his squad.
When asked about Thiago Alcantara's imminent arrival at Liverpool - a player Guardiola managed at Bayern Munich - the City head coach replied: "I wasn’t trying to sign him [Thiago] at Man City because we have enough players in this position.
"I am happy that Thiago comes to England because you’ll enjoy a really good player”.
Despite various reports in France linking Aouar to City, our sister site MEN understands Guardiola's side have never actively pursued a deal for the 22-year-old throughout the summer.
Instead, it is Arsenal who appear to be frontrunners for the midfielder's signature, with Lyon sporting director Juninho previously admitting that the Gunners made an offer for Aouar, with midfielder Matteo Guendouzi offered in exchange, but the bid was rejected.
"I get on very well with the Sporting Director (Edu)," Juninho told RMC Sport. "We spoke on the phone. Houssem Aouar is really well liked by Arteta.
"There were some discussions for Matteo Guendouzi, who is also a good player. He was brought up during the discussion.
"But we don’t need his profile, we were very clear. If it is like that, we are not interested at all, we cut the conversation, that is where things ended.”
