Manchester City are hoping to discover that lightning really does strike twice and they can win the transfer lottery, once again, when the market reopens. Having signed Norway sensation Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund last summer, attention has shifted to his former teammate Jude Bellingham.
Bellingham, thanks to his rising status across Europe, needs no introduction. Put simply, the box-to-box teenager is among the hottest properties on the planet right now and there will be an orderly queue for his signature whenever Dortmund opt to cash-in on the midfielder.
However, that decision might be out-of-hand for the Bundesliga side as City, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Chelsea and others including Manchester United - who attempted to sign him three years ago - get ready to convince Bellingham that their project matches his generational talent.
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Guardiola has gone public with his admiration before. Of course, he did not confirm that City would be doing their utmost to sign him, but there are no lines to read between when indicating the Catalan sees Bellingham as a possible and ideal recruit.
Waxing lyrical about the teenager during a previous Champions League meeting, he said: "As I said when he was only 17, it wasn't just the quality. It was about he was shouting, leading, kicking and going to the referee."
Guardiola added: "I thought this guy was something special in terms of his mentality and he's already one the [Dortmund] captains. When that happens at 19, it's quite impressive."
Bellingham is impressive, indeed, and so would be City's main starting line-up should they get their hands on him when the market reopens. Depending on what happens with Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva - among others - he would be the perfect replacement.
City might also have their eye on another left-back with question marks over Joao Cancelo amid his ongoing loan move to Bayern Munich - where he headed during the January window - and Real Madrid player Ferland Mendy has been mooted as one possible £50million option in that position.
Of course, alternative options will be considered across the board and Guardiola also has many star-studded names at his disposal currently. However, in the scenario City sign Bellingham and Mendy this summer, here's one way they could line-up next season;
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