We’ll kick off straight away with The Sun’s claim that the Blues are monitoring Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski with one eye on a possible bid in January.
City have been scoring goals for fun in the opening weeks of the campaign but it clearly hasn’t stopped speculation that attacking reinforcements are still on the agenda for the Premier League leaders.
The report reads: “City had scouts watching Lewandowski as he scored twice in Bayern Munich’s 4-0 demolition of Mainz.
“The Polish striker publicly criticised the club’s transfer policy this summer after chiefs refused to compete with moneybags Paris Saint-Germain.
“And City boss Pep Guardiola is ready to capitalise on the situation as he keeps tabs on Lewandowski, with a January swoop on the cards.
“He has scored five times in four matches this season despite speculation about his future.
“Lewandowski would spark a bidding war between Europe’s top clubs should he become available.
“And City could benefit from the hitman’s relationship with Guardiola after he thrived in his title-winning side.”
Moving away from transfer speculation, Sport Witness feature an insightful story on Danilo who has revealed one or two trade secrets as he reflects on his first few months with the Blues.
He is quoted as saying: ‘Brazilians have the ability to adapt very quickly to any type of situation, Gabriel doesn’t speak English, but he can communicate with everyone even in Portuguese, which is an important influence to cheer up the changing room and make the environment a bit lighter.
‘The DJ is Fernandinho, since he’s been at the club for many years, so we have to respect him. The most popular Brazilian song is that from Revelação: ‘Erga essa cabeça, mete o pé e vai na fé…’. The lads like this one a lot. Even Guardiola got excited on the plane.
‘He’s a guy who has interest in other cultures and for the history he has with Brazilians, you can see that he really likes our culture. The day we got the day off he joked: ‘Run to get the caipirinha out of the body!’
Meanwhile, over at ESPN, respected European football journalist Gabriele Marcotti believes City are currently playing some of the best – if not the best – football in Europe right now.
In his column he writes: “Last year, Manchester City travelled to Watford and won 5-0. At least this season couldn’t possibly be any worse, some Watford fans opined on social media. They were wrong.
“City won 6-0 on Saturday and if anything, even that result doesn’t fully underscore just how comprehensive their victory was. Pep Guardiola reverted to the back four, paired Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero up front and unleashed Raheem Sterling, Kevin de Bruyne and David Silva behind his front two.
“It was dizzying to watch, even just on television. Watford looked as if they had legitimate claims for offside on two of the goals and Nathaniel Chalobah might have had a penalty. But take those incidents out of the mix and City were absolutely devastating. Shades of early last year, in fact.
“There are still potential weaknesses in this team and managing so much talent -- especially when there is so much of it on the bench, too, pining for playing time -- will be a challenge. But right now, if you’re a City fan, you ought to enjoy it. Arguably, nobody is playing better football in Europe.”
More of the same tomorrow morning…
