Pep Guardiola outlines 5 participant January want listing to avoid wasting Man City’s season
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has set his sights on a five players wish list as he looks to turnaround the reigning Premier League champions’ fortunes this season
Pep Guardiola has his sights set on five players to boost his Manchester City squad as the January transfer window looms.
After having suffered a dismal run of form throughout the course of November and December, City have tumbled down to seventh in the Premier League table, a worrying 14 points behind Liverpool at the top.
Guardiola is eager to welcome fresh talent when the new year rolls around, given that City are in a strong financial position to do so and are desperately in need of some reinforcements. Their starting lineup has notably suffered from a spate of defensive blows and the absence of Rodri for much of the campaign.
Speaking about City’s recruitment, Guardiola admitted to Amazon Prime Video following their 1-1 draw with Everton: “If we can we have to add players, definitely. I don’t know if it’s going to happen. I think we have to but I don’t know if it’s going to happen. The transfer window in winter is not easy.”
The Times reports that Martin Zubimendi, Bruno Guimaraes, Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz, and Marc Guehi have all caught City’s eye, with Zubimendi and Guimaraes specifically targeted to fill the void left by Rodri’s ACL enforced absence.
Although City have shown interest in both, signing Guimaraes could prove challenging due to his critical role at Newcastle, where he is Eddie Howe’s captain. Zubimendi previously opted to stay with Real Sociedad despite Liverpool’s desperate attempts to sign him during the summer, reports the Mirror.
Guehi could have been on the move to Tyneside in the summer, but Crystal Palace turned down Newcastle’s hefty £70million prior to the beginning of the 2024/25 season. The Eagles didn’t budge on their star central defender, who Palace chairman Steve Parish described as “generational” following his standout performances with England at Euro 2024.
Bundesliga sensations Musiala and Wirtz would provide Guardiola with two of Europe’s most exciting talents, offering positional versatility to the Spaniard. Both are just 21, but neither will come cheap. Prying them away from Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen will require big money, especially with both sides likely unwilling to lose them in January.
However, despite the need for reinforcements, Guardiola contends injuries have played the most pivotal role in City’s slump. “Sometimes you have injuries,” Guardiola said.
“For how many years we were incredibly consistent but now, yes, we’re a little bit down and the main reason is having so many important players injured.”
He added confidence in his team’s resilience and commitment, noting: “But I saw the team spirit, how we trained this week, how focused they are, how they try to practise. We saw that against Everton but unfortunately we couldn’t get the result we wanted.”
