Manchester City: Who’s on Guardiola’s £150 million January shopping list?
Manchester City and Pep Guardiola are plotting a £150 million shopping spree in January to further boost the Citizens title challenge.
Manchester City have been on fire at the start of the Premier League season, but for that one game they lost against a hugely impressive Tottenham Hotspur. Now, it seems City are set to dip into the transfer market in January.
That’s if you can call £150 million a dip. That’s the sum City are prepared to spend, according to the Mirror. Guardiola knows his team are not complete yet and there is an acceptance within the club that it will take more than one window to transform this City into Guardiola’s Manchester City.
Three players are at the top of Guardiola’s shopping list. They are Arsenal‘s Hector Bellerin, Juventus’ Leonardo Bonucci and Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. An ambitious wanted list by anybody’s standards.
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Deals to sign those three players would be extremely complicated in the summer, never mind the January transfer window. Money does often talk, though, so if City bid enough then you never know what can happen.
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Although, as great as those three players are – do City really need them? Like, desperately in January? Guardiola, like any manager, can always do with some reinforcements. Of course. But those targets are reaching, to say the least.
Bellerin has been linked with a move away from Arsenal recently, and City do need to reboot at right-back. But, realistically, it is not going to happen in January. If ever. And City aren’t that desperate for a right back either. The summer will do just fine.
Likewise Aubameyang. Currently City only have Sergio Aguero and Kelechi Iheanacho as their two strikers. But they only play one up front anyway. Aguero’s injury history causes concern. However, Brazilian Gabriel Jesus is scheduled to arrive at Manchester City from Palmeiras around December/January.
City spent £27 million on the versatile forward who has been impressing for the Brazil national team lately. Jesus may need to time to adapt once he arrives, but so would Aubameyang. It’s not an area of desperation.
Bonucci at centre-back is a different story. Guardiola is absolutely pining for the Italian to turn up at the Etihad Stadium in the new year. John Stones has been a huge success since arriving. But Vincent Kompany’s injury problems show no signs of letting up.
Nicolas Otamendi may or may not be a good fit for Guardiola’s pass-first philosophy. Aleksandar Kolarov has been great in multiple positions so far, but returned to his less impressive former self against Spurs.
Guardiola needs to address the centre-back position sooner rather than later. There’s just too many unreliable factors at play right now. Surprisingly, Stones is the only reliable part of Guardiola’s central defensive options.
The man people said was over-hyped, overpriced and not ready. Yeah, that guy, he’s ready. He’s the only piece that truly fits back there. If there is a shopping spree in January, it is centre-back where Guardiola needs to focus. Whether that’s Bonucci is another question altogether.
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As for the other positions? Sure. If it’s the right player at the right price. It wont be Bellerin or Aubameyang anyway. Nor Bonucci, in all likelihood. Not that it will necessarily stop City from at least bidding for one, two or even all three of them.
But January is a notoriously difficult market to buy in. Don’t be surprised when all three fall flat.