Pep Guardiola signed a new contract in November with his team in the grip of a dismal run of form.
Manchester City have picked up in the last couple of Premier League matches but sit outside the top four. Injuries alone provide scant explanation of City’s catastrophic decline after an excellent start to the season, but the January transfer window has been a beacon on the horizon.
Now the time for business is upon us and Man City can address some shortcomings. Here, FourFourTwo predicts a dream transfer window for the Premier League champions and its implications for the rest of the season.
What is Manchester City’s top transfer priority?
Losing Ballon d’Or winner Rodri to long-term injury would be a big problem for any football club in the world, no matter how successful or wealthy it might be.
It’s certainly affected Man City negatively, and while it would be rather generous to let them off their season so far on the basis of their losing the best football player in the world, there’s little doubt plugging the tactical gap he left behind would be a smart move.
City are understood to be keen on Real Socieded midfielder Martin Zubimendi, who turned down a switch to the Premier League with Liverpool in the summer but is now open to a move.
Spanish football expert Guillem Balague regards Zubimendi as “the best holding midfielder after Rodri” and believes he’s ready to leave Sociedad after stalling his departure in the summer.
Liverpool and City have also been reported to be in competition for the services of Ederson, Atalanta’s Brazilian international defensive midfielder. Like Zubimendi, Ederson is 25 years old – three years younger than Rodri and a possible replacement in the very long-term as well as this season – and approaching the peak of his powers.
Adding the goals of Omar Marmoush
Reports this week have linked City with a pair of young central defenders as well as Omar Marmoush, a 25-year-old striker who would cost them a pretty penny but serve as a belated replacement for Julian Alvarez as an alternative to and a foil for Erling Haaland.
The Egyptian has scored 13 goals and 15 games in the Bundesliga this season, second only to Harry Kane of Bayern Munich, and Eintracht Frankfurt are understood to be looking for around £50 million if they’re to sell him.
Haaland is the leading scorer in the Premier League but Guardiola has seen how tough it can be to win games when the Norwegian phenom isn’t among the goals.
Previously, Alvarez was a useful failsafe. Marmoush would, in FourFourTwo’s opinion, be that and more.
What do Manchester City do with Jack Grealish?
Where do we even start with Jack Grealish? Since his record-breaking move from Aston Villa in 2021, the former Villans captain has won three consecutive Premier League titles and won the Champions League, but all is not well.
Critics of the move felt that Grealish’s real value was in being a wildcard, impossibly talented but unorthodox in style and badly suited to a leading club where he’d be expected to play nicely with all the other big fish.
Grealish hasn’t failed at City but there has been a sense outside the club that his unique abilities are being wasted in a meticulous system. Within the club, the friction of his uncomfortable fit occasionally causes a flare-up and his days appear to be numbered.
The player is understood to be dealing with various struggles and his relationship with Guardiola appears frayed. A wonderful footballer though he is, City, perhaps, can do without Grealish.
There are many clubs who’d snap him up in a heartbeat to take him off their hands. Finding the money to do so might be another matter.