Man City could sign their own Alexander-Arnold as Pep looks for a “engine” worth £18 million.

Manchester City finished the most recent Premier League season with the division’s joint-best defensive record.

The Citizens conceded 26 goals in 38 league games, the same number as Liverpool in second place.

A number of City’s defenders made themselves useful attacking figures in addition to assisting Pep Guardiola’s side in achieving this impressive feat.

Last season, Joao Cancelo, Ruben Dias, and Aymeric Laporte combined for seven goals and nine assists in the league.

Now that the summer transfer window has opened, it appears that the Manchester club has been linked with another defender who has also proven to be a useful attacking threat.

The Premier League champions were linked with a move for Hoffenheim left-back David Raum earlier this month.

The full-back joined Hoffenheim last summer after scoring six goals and providing 23 assists in 99 senior appearances for Greuther Furth.

During his debut season, the 24-year-old, who Jan Aage Fjortoft described as a player with a “great engine,” scored three goals and provided 13 assists in 32 Bundesliga appearances.

To emphasize his attacking prowess, no other player at his current club made as many crosses (182), successful dribbles (31), or shot-creating actions (128) as the £18m-rated full-back.

According to WhoScored, his overall performance earned him a solid season rating of 7.11/10, making him the highest-rated player at Hoffenheim.

According to FBref, one well-known name on a list of players who are similar to Raum is Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Given that he has 12 goals and 62 assists in 225 senior appearances for the Merseyside club, the chance to sign their own version of the England international in the shape of Raum could be an exciting prospect for City and Guardiola in the future.

Given how important he has been to his new club, it is safe to assume that they will be reluctant to let him leave this summer.

This is where the City’s track record of spending large sums of money, particularly on defenders, in the past could come in handy.