Manchester City would do well to match their summer outlay of £225 million last year.

The Sky Blues invested boldly to prepare for Pep Guardiola’s second campaign, landing Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva, Danilo and Ederson in their biggest spending spree yet.

Last season’s achievements suggest it paid off for the most part.

The Premier League champions ended last term a record-breaking 19 points above their nearest rivals, along with the most wins and goals scored in a single season.

Guardiola officially sewed up the title in mid-April, but he had announced his intentions to dominate English football well before then.

However, City’s quarter-final exit from the Champions League at the hands of Liverpool can only be regarded as a failure.

Guardiola - and more importantly his superiors at the club - will likely expect to reach the last four of the 2018-19 edition at least.

That should probably be their objective even with the current squad - but being City, they’re on the hunt for further reinforcements this summer.

Negotiations to bring Napoli midfielder Jorginho to the Etihad are thought to have stalled, largely due to a £15 million gap between what the Serie A club want and what City are willing to pay.

The situation is understood to be infuriating the Italian, and his agent this week revealed he would be devastated if the move collapsed, per Manchester Evening News.

JEAN-MICHAEL SERI

However, that same report suggests Guardiola has requested City maintain contact with Nice’s Jean-Michael Seri in case Napoli refuse to lower their demands for Jorginho.

The Manchester club have been watching the Ivory Coast star for months, and while Jorginho remains Guardiola’s No. 1 target, he wants an alternative ready if necessary.

It wouldn’t come as a huge surprise if City abandoned their stalling talks with Napoli for Seri in a deal that appears to be low-hanging fruit.

Although Nice would require handsome compensation to let him go, City should have little trouble persuading Seri given he’s made no secret of his desire to join a Premier League club this summer.

Yesterday L’Equipe, via Talksport, stated: "He has decided that England should be the next move in his career.”

Supposedly Arsenal and Chelsea will also be vying for his signature, but staving them off seems a more realistic proposition than haggling with Napoli.