Pep Guardiola has wasted little time in strengthening his Manchester City squad ahead of the 2019-20 season.

This is a squad that won the Premier League title with 98 points last season. There are no weak areas in Guardiola’s team but he wants more competition.

And that explains the arrival of midfielder Rodri for a club-record £62.8 million fee.

Guardiola is spending largely because he can but also because he’s aware of the threat posed by Liverpool.

The Reds finished just a point behind City in an enthralling title race and followed that up by winning the Champions League.

Liverpool are here to stay, there’s no doubt about that.

Yet it’s still important for Jurgen Klopp to do just what Guardiola is doing by continuously improving his squad.

Liverpool will spend £20m max on an attacker

He did that last summer by signing Alisson Becker and Fabinho.

But there is a change in attitude at Anfield this summer.

There will be little business conducted by the Reds according to the Mirror. Klopp is keen to bring in a wide attacker and have been linked with a host of players, including Lille’s Nicolas Pepe.

Even Philippe Coutinho has been linked with a possible return to Anfield, but Liverpool aren’t ready to splash the cash on an attacker.

The Mirror’s report claims they are only likely to spend £20 million on a new face.

That wouldn’t be enough to sign Pepe or Coutinho.

But the Reds paid £13.5m for Xherdan Shaqiri last year and the Switzerland international proved to be a very good squad player.

So there’s quality to be found with £20m.

Instead of splashing the cash, Liverpool will instead rely on their analytics and player profiling tools to identify young talent.

“Liverpool will use their impressive analytics database and cutting edge profiling in an attempt to identify young talent that can be developed further under the watch of boss Jurgen Klopp and his coaching team," the Mirror’s David Maddock says.

"The recruitment team, led by sporting director Michael Edwards, have indicated there will be little business this summer, and there will be few more outgoings, beyond the departure of Daniel Sturridge and Alberto Moreno."

The Reds have already snapped up Netherlands U19 international defender Sepp van den Berg and are poised to complete a deal for Fulham’s highly-rated 16-year-old Harvey Elliott, who made his Premier League debut last season.