Gerard Pique rules out Pep reunion at City because of “love for Manchester United”

Manchester City might well be on course to land three trophies this season, but their defence hasn't always looked completely solid.

The jury is still out on £32m Eliaquim Mangala, and Nicolas Otamendi only seems to look like the real deal when playing alongside Vincent Kompany, a man who has struggled to stay fit throughout the season. City are already being linked with defensive reinforcements, with incoming manager Pep Guardiola being tipped to raid Spain for Athletic Bilbao's highly-rated Aymeric Laporte. But any hopes of Guardiola prising Gerard Pique from his former club Barcelona appear faint. Pique, who bagged his side's winner in Sunday's 2-1 win over Sevilla, has claimed he has no intentions to leave Barcelona, and wouldn't dream of playing for City due to his loyalty to Manchester's other team. "My love for Manchester United is too great for me to sign for City, even though Pep is a great coach," he said on Periscope. "I’m very happy in Barcelona. United are my second club, but my future is at Barça. I’m very proud to play at Barcelona. I think it’s the best club in the world." Interestingly, Pique claims that he does fancy leaving Barcelona at some point in the future, with a move to South America a possibility. “I would like to try a different league when I’ve got a few years to go before retiring. I don’t know if it will be Colombia, I’d like that for [my wife] Shakira, but nobody can predict the future.”