With a view to strengthening their defence this summer, Manchester City are reportedly keen on recruiting Everton central defender Mason Holgate.
It's been a breakout campaign for the 23-year-old who spent last season on loan at Championship side West Bromwich Albion. However, he returned to Goodison Park last summer and has been a mainstay within the Everton defence for the bulk of the campaign.
Guardiola's defence has proved his side's weak link at many stages of the season, with injuries to the likes of Aymeric Laporte being compounded by the poor form of defenders such as John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi.
Therefore improving the same in the summer will be top of the agenda for City as they look to reclaim their Premier League crown which is sure to be heading to Liverpool in the coming weeks.
Based on his performances for Everton this season, Holgate looks the ideal candidate to not only improve Guardiola's defence, but also illustrates plenty of the characteristics that the Catalan coach looks for in a central defender.
He is calm and composed on the ball, boasting a pass success rate of 87 per cent so far this season. This is a lower success rate than some defenders already at City, like Otamendi who has an average pass success rate of 94 per cent this season.
Yet, it's worth remembering City deploy a heavy possession based game, meaning Otamendi tends to see more of the ball and be presented with more passing options when in possession. This isn't the case at Everton who are a lot more varied in their build up play, therefore his success rate of 87 per cent should be admired.
Not just a great passer, both his tranquil nature in possession as well as his impressive ball carrying abilities make him fairly press resistant, meaning he can normally weave his way out of any perceived danger when in possession.
When passing options are limited, he is confident in carrying the ball out from the defence and has the ninth highest progressive run average from the 66 centre backs who have played 1000+ Premier League minutes this season.
This ability on the ball has saw him pushed into midfield on occasions for the Toffees this season, most notably away at Manchester United where he put in a Man of the Match performance.
His ability to play in different roles is another appealing facet to his potential. Beyond playing at centre-back and in midfield, the 23-year-old spent the bulk of his campaign with West Brom last season at right-back.
Setting aside his ability on the ball and his versatility, he is first and foremost a defender, and a good one at that. From that aforementioned group of 66 centre-backs, Holgate boasts the fifth best defensive duel success rate with 73.28%. This average betters the likes of Liverpool's Virgil Van Dijk and Manchester United's Harry Maguire.
Perhaps if there is one area of his game that does need to improve though, it is his aerial abilities. His aerial duel success rate of 57.35% ranks 43rd out of that same group of players which is interestingly one place below Otamendi and four below Fernandinho.
Despite the above, in data terms, Holgate is on the whole performing well. Yet it's equally as important to highlight his strengths in the areas not as easily quantified in numbers. These are characteristics such as his ability to read the game, his courage, confidence and communication skills.
He is exhibiting the same in abundance which is another reason why Guardiola is reportedly keen to bring him to the Etihad. Given he is English, just 23 and has a rumoured transfer value of just £30million, it's fair to say that he could be a wise bit of recruitment in the summer.