Manchester City plan to beat Chelsea to Lyon defender

Manchester City will reportedly look to take advantage of Lyon's interest in Eliaquim Mangala in order to sign highly-rated centre-back Mouctar Diakhaby in the New Year.

The France Under-21 international has been attracting plenty of transfer request with Chelsea boss Antonio Conte also said to be monitoring his progress.

However, according to The Sun, the Citizens could get a headstart over their rivals as they are prepared to offer Mangala in a part-exchange deal for Diakhaby in January.

Mangala had been widely tipped to leave the Etihad in the summer, but the Citizens' failure to sign Jonny Evans from West Bromwich Albion eventually saw him stay put in Manchester.

Diakhaby has been sparingly used in the Lyon first-team this term, but he has nevertheless captured the attention owing to his impressive ability in the air.

Pep Guardiola's side have been hugely dependent on John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi to perform the centre-back duties this term with skipper Vincent Kompany still to recover from his recurrent calf injury.