It is being understood that Pep Guardiola has met with his Etihad bosses and has handed them his shopping list for the new year.

As per to the Daily Star, Guardiola wants to sign a new forward, a centre-back and a defensive midfielder by the end of the season. While the Spanish manager seems to have shortlisted his first two candidates in the form of Alexis Sanchez and Virgil Van Dijk but he now needs a defensive midfielder who will replace Yaya Toure.

And as per the reports, it seems that Guardiola has Sergio Busquets on his mind. The 29-year-old broke into the Barcelona first team back in 2008 and since then he has established himself as one of the best defensive midfielders in European football. And City are said to be preparing a £50 million bid for him.

But both the Man City management and Pep Guardiola will know this for a fact that it will be very difficult to convince the La Masia academy product to leave Barcelona and join the Citizens. But Guardiola is hoping that his previous connections with the midfielder can help change his mind.

Read: Man City hold initial talks with Chelsea transfer target.