Pep Guardiola targets Bundesliga hotshot in bid to shore up his creaking squad this month – however there WON’T be a clearout of struggling stars

The expectation is that Manchester City will reverse their normal habits in attempting to embark on a busy window in the transfer market – but don’t want any of Pep Guardiola‘s core stars leaving the club.

Txiki Begiristain’s final market as sporting director is set to be busier than the Basque will have envisioned when confirming to the Premier League champions that he would depart at the end of the season.

That call was made in October – Sporting’s Hugo Viana quickly installed as his successor, beginning a concrete handover process from February – when City were still unbeaten in all competitions.

What followed, two wins in 14 matches, has accelerated the planned rebuild of an aging squad – the majority of whom have admirers elsewhere.

Captain Kyle Walker and goalkeeper Ederson are the subject of interest from the Saudi Pro League, while question marks remain over Matheus Nunes and Jack Grealish. James McAtee remains a hot property across Europe and Kevin De Bruyne has entered the final six months of his contract.

City, though, want to keep the nucleus of Guardiola’s team together for the time being, adding to that group rather than trading in and out over the next four weeks. Even if a selection of mainstays have underperformed.

Sales would, you suspect, arise as a result of a player making it known that they are desperate to leave and that the money on offer was then deemed appropriate. In that respect, there won’t be much change to City’s operation.

But there is money available to spend – evidenced by healthy accounts published a few weeks ago – and sources told Mail Sport last month that Begiristain and Guardiola were keen to address three or four areas of concern – chiefly central midfield, at the back and a forward.

Omar Marmoush at Frankfurt, who has netted 18 goals in 24 games so far this term, is well-liked and offers versatility in featuring anywhere along the front line. City aren’t the only side in England to have made their checks on the Egyptian. And Atalanta’s energetic Brazil international, Ederson, is another to be of interest.

Both are 25 years old, coming into their primes, which is something of an alteration in City’s thinking. The more eye-catching arrivals are usually younger, developed under Guardiola as projects – Savinho, Jeremy Doku and Josko Gvardiol the big three examples of the past two summers. 

Signed in 2023, Nunes and Mateo Kovacic were significantly more experienced so buck that idea yet were originally seen as supplements to what City already boasted in midfield.

There is a realisation from the Premier League champions that purchasing the right targets will be no easy feat in the middle of a campaign. 

Looking specifically at the situations of Marmoush and Ederson, Atalanta are pushing to win Serie A for the first time in their history and Frankfurt are eager to cement a spot in next year’s Champions League. Losing their shining lights at this stage would prove a bitter pill.

It could prove hard work but although preferring a smaller squad, Guardiola does accept he needs more numbers to call upon given an injury crisis which cannot be overlooked in dissecting his worst run of form as a manager.

Fifteen of the squad have suffered at least one fitness issue this term – Stefan Ortega, Rico Lewis, Ilkay Gundogan, Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva the only five to have remained injury-free. 

It is has amounted to City missing a collective 86 league matches with injuries so far. That will further increase when they face West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Rodri and Oscar Bobb account for 34 of that number, with the latter hoping to be back among the group this month. Even when ignoring that pair while calculating the sums, Guardiola has been missing an average of four players per league game throughout the year. 

That doesn’t factor in the countless times over the past three months when players have been asked to feature when only half-fit and certainly not match sharp in a seemingly never-ending cycle.

‘People were playing too many games,’ De Bruyne reflected this week. ‘But they have to do it because if you don’t have anyone else, you have to play. They took the burden, hopefully people come back and we get back into a rhythm as a team.’

Guardiola has admitted that any new faces will serve to at least freshen the place up and that is both for morale, which has understandably dipped, and offering some rest bite for the 34-year-old Gundogan, Silva, Haaland or Lewis, who have run themselves into the ground. 

The chances of winning injury roulette increase with more balls whizzing round the table. It’s why, in City’s mind, they cannot contemplate letting many – if any – leave, irrespective of individual form.