Manchester City are flying, with eight wins on the bounce ahead of Thursday’s clash with Sunderland as they heap the pressure on Arsenal in the title race. But the January transfer window could help them really ramp it up as they look to claim back their crown.
Pep Guardiola‘s club spent cleverly in the summer but could tinker with the squad – and make a key addition – in the next month.
Here, our City expert JACK GAUGHAN answers the key questions about the upcoming window – with the latest insight on Antoine Semenyo and potential players heading for the exit…
1. What do City need to do in January?
They don’t need to do a lot, given they are two points off the top, nicely set in the Champions League and have a Carabao Cup semi-final on the horizon.
Guardiola’s primary concern over the coming month will likely be those players who are barely featuring at the moment. This is the largest squad he’s ever had at City, partly down to a realisation that they needed more bodies after looking short amid injury problems last year.
While it offers strength in depth, the numbers do mean quite a few are struggling for minutes. Oscar Bobb is chief among those, somebody who was flying at the beginning of last season before a leg fracture and subsequent setbacks have halted his progress at City.
Oscar Bobb was flying at the beginning of last season but setbacks have halted his progress at City and he may now move on
Omar Marmoush, currently away at AFCON with Egypt, has seen his game time heavily reduced as boss Pep Guardiola backs away from utilising him on the left-hand side
There are a raft of suitors for a 22-year-old who now needs to play regularly to fulfil his undoubted potential. Borussia Dortmund currently top the list and have been in negotiations over a loan move until the end of the season, with a view to a permanent deal at around £30million.
Sevilla and Atletico Madrid are monitoring Bobb too. In the Premier League, both Crystal Palace and Bournemouth have been looking, with Newcastle United across developments. The suggestion is that the Norway international is being viewed as somebody who can operate inside as well as wide.
Also in attacking areas, Egypt’s Omar Marmoush, currently away at AFCON, has seen game time heavily reduced as Guardiola backs away from utilising him on the left-hand side. There remains interest in Savinho, even though the Brazilian recently signed a new contract after Tottenham’s failed bid in the summer.
City insist that they want both of those forwards to stay and it would require an extraordinary offer from elsewhere to alter that thinking. Guardiola has talked up Savinho’s increased defensive desire over the past few weeks.
Elsewhere, as Daily Mail Sport has previously reported, Stefan Ortega and James Trafford are both looking for minutes – although the futures of both goalkeepers are unclear going into the transfer window.
Ortega, who rejected advances from Fenerbahce, Sunderland and Burnley last summer, searches for a permanent move away but may have to take a pay cut. There could be negotiations around a payment plan on the wages owed for the final six months of his contract were the German to depart.
Guardiola is on record as saying Trafford is going nowhere, even if the young summer signing wants and needs games as Thomas Tuchel finalises plans for his World Cup squad.
Pep Guardiola is on record as saying James Trafford is going nowhere, even if the young summer signing wants and needs games as Thomas Tuchel his World Cup squad
2. Do they have money to spend?
The latest set of accounts point towards a downward curve in finances committed to salaries, which could free up some money from that point of view – particularly given the heavyweight names to have left the club last summer, including £400,000-a-week Kevin De Bruyne.
City will continue looking to recoup decent sums for younger players. The likely money from Bobb’s departure will go some way to funding a foray into the market for a winger.
3. Who are they targeting?
Antoine Semenyo is that winger. City were in talks with the Bournemouth man’s representatives on Monday as they look to secure a £65m transfer once the window opens.
Liverpool have held an interest and Bournemouth have been braced for their involvement ahead of January but City want to wrap a move up to give them additional firepower in attacking areas.
Although they have started spreading the goals around over the last month, the reliance on Erling Haaland had threatened to become a worry. Semenyo’s nine Premier League goals so far this term suggest he can hit the ground running.
There were murmurings that City could look at the right back market but those have been quashed by club sources. Central midfield will be the big area of focus next summer. If Marc Guehi is still a Palace player by the end of January then City want to be in the conversation about a free transfer in the summer.
City are in talks with Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo as they look to secure a £65m transfer once the window opens
If Marc Guehi is still a Crystal Palace player by the end of January then City want to be in the conversation about a free transfer in the summer
How have their summer signings fared so far?
It’s all coming together quite nicely now. Rayan Cherki’s flamboyance is providing a different dimension, Tijjani Reijnders is beginning to crash into the box with more regularity. Players continue to talk up the added safety they feel with Gianluigi Donnarumma behind them between the sticks.
Aside from Trafford, Rayan Ait-Nouri is the only summer signing not to have made much of an impact so far and that is largely down to Nico O’Reilly’s rise to prominence at left back.
And who might leave?
Right then, where do we start? Bobb is the headline as it stands. But then there is Kalvin Phillips, who needs a loan away. City maintain they want to keep Nathan Ake’s experience but the Dutchman will have eyes on the World Cup.
Claudio Echeverri is back from a disastrous loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen (for which Guardiola criticised his agent) and is heading to City’s sister club Girona.
They are currently at their limit of three non-EU players, which includes City loanee Vitor Reis, but the LaLiga side are planning to move somebody on to accommodate Echeverri, who, let’s not forget, came on as a substitute in last season’s FA Cup final.
Another recent signing seemingly on his way out is Juma Bah. The central defender has had a mixed time of it on loan at Nice in Ligue 1 and is looking for a new opportunity. There is tentative interest in the 19-year-old from both Crystal Palace and Brentford on either a temporary or permanent deal.
Bah arrived at City in controversial circumstances last January after buying out his own £5m contract, with former club Real Valladolid threatening legal action over the transfer. City believe they can recoup significantly more than the £5m.
Central defender Juma Bah (left) has had a mixed time of it on loan at Nice in Ligue 1 and is looking for a new opportunity
City centre half Jahmai Simpson-Pusey (left) is set to be recalled from a loan spell at Celtic having made just one league appearance and should head to a Championship side
Fellow centre halves Jahmai Simpson-Pusey and Finley Burns are set to be recalled from loans at Celtic and Reading respectively. Simpson-Pusey’s made just one league appearance and should head to a Championship side. Burns has fallen down Reading’s pecking order since Leam Richardson took over as manager.
City are keeping watch of developments with Max Alleyne at Watford, with the defender performing well when picked. The 20-year-old has fought his way into the team across December.
Emilio Lawrence is deemed ready for the next stage of his progression out on loan in the EFL, while development squad full back Christian McFarlane has interest but is more likely to leave in the summer.
There is a list of youngsters who City will listen to offers for: Kian Breckin, Luke Mbete, Joel Katongo, Will Dickson, Seb Naylor and – somewhat surprisingly – wide man Justin Oboavwoduo.
