McAteer believes City must sign Serie A stars to remain in the Premier League title race

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Former midfielder Jason McAteer believes Man City need some new defenders
Pep Guardiola's side produced a poor defensive display in 3-1 loss at Liverpool
McAteer believes Kalidou Koulibaly or Milan Skriniar would be good signings
Aymeric Laporte is currently sidelined and others have struggled to fill his boots

Published: 07:31 EDT, 16 November 2019 | Updated: 08:16 EDT, 16 November 2019

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Former Liverpool midfielder Jason McAteer believes Manchester City should sign Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly or Inter Milan's Milan Skriniar in the January transfer window.

Pep Guardiola's side have had to deal with plenty of injuries this season, especially in defence, which has weakened their Premier League title defence against a rampant Liverpool. The most recent blow coming in their 3-1 defeat by Jurgen Klopp's side at Anfield.

Speaking to The Racing Post, McAteer said City are not out of the title race after their loss to Liverpool but do need some defensive reinforcements this winter.

Jason McAteer believes Man City need new defenders in January to defend their league title

'City are a side who tend to bounce back from setbacks by going on unbelievable winning runs,' said the 48-year-old.

'They have issues at the back which need addressing and they need to get to the start of the January transfer window without losing any ground. Perhaps Pep will then go in for another centre back.

'It looks as though he might have no choice with Aymeric Laporte sidelined until at least February and Fernandinho being found out. I'm just not sure Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones are good enough.'

McAteer believes Kalidou Koulibaly would be a good signing for City but could be expensive

McAteer believes Inter Milan's Milan Skriniar could be someone Man City could look at

McAteer believes the answer to City's problems could be found in Serie A, but warned it could come at a hefty price for the Premier League champions.

'I'm a big fan of Kalidou Koulibaly at Napoli,' he admitted.

'Then again, so are a lot of people so he would cost serious money. Maybe Pep should have a look at someone such as Milan Skriniar at Inter, who is winning plaudits.

'He's got to do something because if you're a City fan you're thinking this defence isn't good enough to stay competitive over a busy winter.'

Koulibaly has been linked with rivals Manchester United, so if City want the Napoli defender they are going to have to fight for his signature.