‘Man City don’t need to sign a defender’ – Kompany not expecting movement in January window

Manchester City “don’t need to sign another defender”, says Vincent Kompany, with Pep Guardiola expected to steer clear of the January transfer market and focus instead on his attacking strength.

It has been suggested that the reigning Premier League champions will need to bolster their ranks when the window re-opens.

An untimely injury to Aymeric Laporte, coupled with the summer departure of club legend Kompany, has left Guardiola short on centre-half options.

John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi have also nursed knocks at various stages this season, forcing City to get creative as the likes of Fernandinho and Rodri have slotted into unnatural berths in the back four.

Kompany, though, sees no cause for alarm – despite the Blues now being nine points off the title pace – and considers attack to be the best form of defence.

An iconic former captain at the Etihad Stadium has told Sky Sports on the back of a 3-1 defeat away at Liverpool: “I don’t think they need to sign another defender.

“We always struggle at Anfield. I said that on Super Sunday, you’re fighting 25 years of not winning at Anfield and that’s difficult, it’s two games in one game – you’re playing a great team and you’re fighting history.

“Flip it around and the same will happen for Liverpool – they will fight the history of not winning the league for 30 years.

“That should be to City’s advantage I still think. As to the defence, the best way for City to defend in the past has been to attack. They have no reason to change that.

“As soon as they start reconnecting with the best performances, I’m convinced that we can see a sustainable amount of wins.”

City found themselves on the receiving end of a clinical performance by title rivals Liverpool on Sunday, but the Blues were frustrated by the performance of the match officials and VAR at Anfield.

Kompany admits he is still baffled as to why Fabinho’s opening goal was not chalked off and a penalty awarded to the Blues after Trent Alexander-Arnold handled inside his own box.

“The incident happens and I’m confused,” added the Belgian.

“That’s the problem. I’m confused. I’m thinking ‘Okay, I’m not the expert in everything’. Then I look to my right at Jose Mourinho, Roy Keane and Graham Souness. We’re all confused.

“Surely that says something about the process? The fact that this could still be for debate when there’s a VAR system that is meant to make football simpler and fairer.

“[The] goal happens 20 seconds later. My feeling remains that although Liverpool were great, and both teams tried to play the way they are known to play, I felt this first decision was so important to get right.”