Pep Guardiola has dismissed speculation that Manchester City will make a January move for Bayern Munich defender Holger Badstuber.
The Manchester City boss has revealed he is considering bringing in a defender, and had been linked with a loan move for the 27-year-old Germany international. Guardiola admitted he could be short of defensive options depending on the fitness of captain Vincent Kompany, who has not played a full match this season.
"No, in that sense, no," Guardiola told a news conference when asked about a move for Badstuber following City's 5-0 win at West Ham United in the FA Cup.
"We have to speak with the club about what is the situation, because hopefully Vincent can help us, but Vincent in the last two years he was like this [with injuries].
"We have Nico [Otamendi], John [Stones] and [Aleksandar] Kolarov, and Kola is a full-back, and of course we have Tosin [Adarabioyo], and Tosin is still young. When we arrive now in the Premier League, in the FA Cup, in the Champions League, if something happens with the injuries we don't have enough.
"We are evaluating if there's a chance to take one. I know Holger, he's a fantastic player, a fantastic guy, but he's a Bayern Munich player, and we should first of all speak with them and with him.
"Now on the table there are no names because we had a lot of games, but now we have 10 days off, 10 days until Everton, so we have time to discuss with [director of football] Txiki [Begiristain], with the club, what is the best for the rest of the season."
Meanwhile, Guardiola was delighted with his side's performance as they breezed into the fourth round of the FA Cup with an emphatic win at the London Stadium.
Yaya Toure opened the scoring from the penalty before a Havard Nordtveit own goal and David Silva finish before half-time.
Sergio Aguero and John Stones then added goals in the second half as City made it five wins from their last six games.
"It's always important to win away. It's not easy and at West Ham it was difficult but hopefully this will help our players to believe they are good enough," Guardiola added.
"All the season they have run a lot and will fight a lot and sometimes they have played good. They have to believe they are good enough to compete with every team."
City dominated possession and Guardiola said it is key to them controlling games.
"We were able to keep the ball more than the last games where it was almost impossible and we were much better in that sense," he added.
"We created more chances and conceded few chances so that helped us a lot. Before the penalty we had three or four clear chances and after that goal it made it easier for the second half."