Pep Guardiola willing to splash £50m on defensive wonderkid to replace Kompany

They spent £57m on Laporte in January and £47.5m on Stones in 2016

Manchester City's spending habits come under a lot of scrutiny, and one could argue it's all justified. Where the money comes from as well as the vastly disproportionate heaps of cash they have in reserve compared to the rest of the league can leave a sour taste. However, their spending strategy should be praised. While their net spend is monstrous, most of their signings are long-term investments in young talent that Pep Guardiola can improve through his coaching. John Stones, Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sané are all examples of young players with high ceilings that Guardiola can help develop, and their next transfer target is no different. According to the Mirror, City are chasing Matthijs De Ligt, Ajax's 18-year-old centre-back, to replace club captain Vincent Kompany. Kompany has done well to overcome fitness issues and stay in the team for a prolonged spell this season, but his powers are fading and the 32-year-old won't have too much time left at City. By the time he finally hangs his boots up, De Ligt will have had time to learn under Guardiola and step up when the time is right. City aren't the only club interested though; Arsenal, Barcelona and Bayern Munich have also shown interest, which tells you everything you need to know about how highly the ball-playing centre-back is among Europe's elite.