Is Holger Badstuber heading to Manchester?

Pep Guardiola hasn’t immediately transformed Manchester City into Barcelona or Bayern Munich overnight, so some in the English media are already sharpening their knives. His biggest area of concern is City’s defense. Guardiola can’t play the style that he wants to play without competent centerbacks, so it appears he’s looking elsewhere for the solution.

That “elsewhere” location is Bayern Munich. Guardiola is hoping to lure Holger Badstuber, according to ESPN. Citing sources close to Badstuber, they say that the move could come as soon as this January transfer window.

Badstuber only has six months remaining on his Bayern contract, and rumors have been all over the place as to whether or not the club was interested in giving him an extension due to the number of injuries that he’s suffered over the last four years.

Bayern gave Badstuber an extension as a sign of good faith back in 2013 in the midst of one of his long injury layoffs. As a kid from the academy, Bayern were willing to give him more time to get healthy than they would any other player. However, every single time it seems Badstuber is getting back on track, another injury hits him.

If he were to make a move to Manchester this January, Badstuber would have a great opportunity to crack the starting lineup if he can remain healthy. His main opposition would be Nicolas Otamendi, John Stones, and Aleksandar Kolarov. None of them have shown anything impressive this season.