Manchester City transfer window: Pep Guardiola’s Full-back

It’s almost time for the January transfer window again! It is traditionally a quiet time Manchester Cityand Pep Guardiola usually advises well in advance that the club will not sign any players, and that almost always happens.

Still, they signed Julian Alvarez this time last year, and the value of that deal has quickly become apparent, and they let Ferran Torres go too, which shows that just as they sign the right player at the right price midway through the season, they also let the right player go.

The last three January windows

14.1 million, 0.0

How much money is likely to be available this month?

If the right player comes into the position they need, in theory the money would be there to make it happen as it would be the kind of deal they would be happy to do next summer and therefore the budget could be shifted. in order for the agreement to be completed more quickly.

But that happens very rarely. City bought Aymeric Laporte in January 2018 for 57 million as he was ready to leave Athletic Bilbao 18 months after his move to the Etihad. Clearly, he was a good enough player, not just to play for six months, but for years to come.

In general, City has kept them hard to find. Last winter they caught contract for Alvarez but were happy enough to leave him on loan at River Plate until the summer.

So it really has to be the right man, not just at the right time, but for a long time.

Alvarez shone for Argentina at the World Cup after signing for City in January (Image: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Who makes the most important decisions about signatures?

The city usually acts as a committee where everyone is on the same page, although this is not always the case.

Last summer, for example, Guardiola was very concerned about centre-back depth, so he raised his concerns with sporting director Txiki Begiristain in the final weeks of the window, after which the club went away and identified some targets. Finally they signed Manuel Akanji because Guardiola pushed for it and because the club wanted to give him everything to sign a new contract, which he later did.

There were also whispers about it Guardiola wanted to sign Harry Kane in 2021 than the decision-makers of other clubs were, even in the end Tottenham Hotspur not going to sell anyway. Option, Erling Haalandshows how City usually spend their January: laying the groundwork for big summer deals.

Which position is preferred?

Lo and behold, it would have to be fullback, the same as it has been for a few years now. While it’s usually been a left-back they’ve needed, a right-back would also be welcome as City only have one top option on either flank: Kyle Walker right, João Cancelo on the left.

With Walker missing several weeks before World Cupthis lack of depth was brought up. Sergio Gomezwhich was signed the summer after that City couldn’t get Marc Cucurellanot yet fully trusted to start in many games, so the centre-back has been used on the right to allow Cancelo to continue on the left.

It’s not the end of the world as City have been spinning the plates at left-back for years and at striker last season, but it could do with some addresses. Whether they actually do or not is another story.

Who are credible targets?

Well, they signed Gomez and decided to keep the 22-year-old in Manchester rather than loan him out because, after Cucurella’s move failed, City decided there was no real alternative in the market, especially with the summer window so far away. then.

Is that likely to change in January? Well, it’s that players are closer to the end of their contracts or potential rows or concerns emerge in the intervening months, but the top-class options City are looking for are still likely to be off limits. .

Sergio Gomez is starting to get playing time for Manchester City (Image: Lewis Storey/Getty Images)

They had watched Raphael Guerreiro at Borussia Dortmund and Wolverhampton Wanderers Ryan Ait-Nouri late summer and have been interested Ben Chilwell and Kieran Tierney before, so maybe they could benefit from moving Cucurella Chelsea or Oleksandr Zinchenkos to switch to Arsenal in unexpected ways.

Who could be leaving?

Hardly anyone is going because the team is not huge. Torres left last January, but it’s hard to imagine a big name this time around.

Bernardo Silvathe future is still in the air and City can cash in on a big bid there if it comes sooner rather than later, but the pressure would be on to find a replacement, especially when Ilkay Gundogans contract also expires in the summer.

Which World Cup star would be perfect for City

Argentinian Enzo Fernandez. In fact, it’s a surprise that City didn’t sign him from River Plate when they moved on for club and country team-mate Alvarez. Fernandez seems to have many of the qualities a City midfielder should have: he can control the ball in tight spaces, he can speed up and slow down play, he can win the ball back, challenge in the air, he is mobile and sees the goal.

Benfica signed him in the summer, and big clubs are already sniffing for a move that could be worth more than 80 million. City may have missed a trick on him once, but it’s not too late to put that right.

(Top photo, left to right: Raphael Guerreiro, Bernardo Silva and Rayan Ait-Nouri; Getty Images)