Pep Guardiola has revealed Manchester City came close to signing former Manchester United defender Jonny Evans before the deal broke down and the club opted to pursue other targets.
The centre back, who will visit the Etihad with Leicester on Saturday night, was a target for the Blues in the the summer of 2017 with Guardiola claiming at the time that his £25million price tag was the problem.
The defender moved to West Brom in that transfer window and since then City bought Aymeric Laporte, who has been sidelined for the majority of this season through injury, and Guardiola was asked if he regretted not signing Evans especially given City have been left short at the back this season.
"We decided to buy Laporte, we talked with him (Evans) and were close, we didn’t arrive a deal, maybe an agent situation, after that we decided to spend more money, the age – Laporte was younger, it was not a bad decision," Guardiola said. "I don’t think we’ll go back in.”
Leicester go into the game ahead of City in the league table after an impressive start to the campaign and Guardiola was asked about top scorer Jamie Vardy's threat.
"It's not just counter attacks," Guardiola said. "They play when teams sit back they have quality to attack them that’s what it means when you are a good team, two or three touches, they have players with strong legs.
"The most important weapon, when you are a team, Leicester in the last six to 12 months but since Brendan took over."
