Pep Guardiola and Amadou Onana were pictured engaged in an awkward post-match exchange following Aston Villa's win over Manchester City.
After City suffered their sixth league defeat of the season, Erling Haaland and Onana were spotted chatting on the pitch.
A frustrated Guardiola waded over to the two players and shook hands with the Villa midfielder before walking down the tunnel.
The exchange led some supporters on social media to speculate that Guardiola was trying to tempt the Belgian to join him in January.
One wrote: 'Guardiola and Haaland are probably asking Onana what his plans are for January.'
Another added: 'Pep Guardiola is trying to sign Amadou Onana to his team. LOL. He needs such a profile now.'
A third agreed: 'What did Guardiola tell Amadou Onana? Can you deliver to me in January? Or what?'
The Premier League champions traveled to Villa Park in the midst of their worst ever run of form since Guardiola took charge in 2016.
However, any hopes that Saturday's game would prove to be the turning point in their dismal period were quickly dashed as Villa immediately took the initiative at Villa Park.
Stefan Ortega came into action twice during the early start, but was helpless to intervene after 16 minutes when Jhon Duran finished a lightning counter to give the hosts the lead.
Tensions in the match threatened to rise at half-time when Jack Grealish and Emi Martinez became involved in a heated argument on the way down the tunnel, with the Argentine subsequently shown a yellow card for his involvement.
Despite having less possession, Villa looked the more likely of the two sides to score after the restart.
Unai Emery's side were rewarded for their perseverance when Morgan Rogers scored against his old club just after the hour mark.
Phil Foden's stoppage-time goal gave the visitors a faint hope of a comeback, but it was ultimately too little too late.
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