With a Title Race Coming, Why Haven’t Liverpool and Man City Signed Anyone?

On many occasions in the past, clubs in a position to challenge for the title have stumped up the cash in the January window to strengthen their squad for the final few months, but neither Liverpool nor Man City have done that this year.

It’s set to be the best title race we have seen since 2013-14, which was coincidentally contested by the same 2 clubs. With just 5 points seperating them at the top of the table, it’s likely that one of Manchester City or Liverpool will hoist the Premier League trophy this year, with the latter being the most likely at this point. Man City of course, were champions last year.

Despite this, neither club has signed a player in this window to aid their squad in the title challenge, which you can definitely categorize as strange, especially for Man City. The summer window was strange for City, as they spent just £61 million in total on just the one player, Riyad Mahrez, as clubs like Fulham and West Ham spent more than that. It may have been an act of complacency, as City won the title comfortably last year and may have tried to cut corners in the summer window, thinking they didn’t need reinforcements, which has since been proved incorrect. Therefore, to correct their mistakes, you would’ve expected them to at least sign one midfielder in this window to help ease the burden on Fernandinho and try and get the squad as strong as possible as they trail Liverpool in the table. This hasn’t happened.

Liverpool on the other hand, did spend the most in the Premier League in the summer, pulling off blockbuster deals for Alisson, Keita, and Fabinho. They may have used up plenty of their budget in the summer, but whilst they lead the title race at this point you could’ve expected them to strengthen the squad with a signing or two, or at the very least, prevent any outgoings. Yet, they’ve let backup right-back Nathaniel Clyne go on loan which seems utterly bizzare at the moment, since the Reds have been worn so thin in that position that the likes of James Milner and Fabinho have been forced to play there in recent matches. Dominic Solanke was also sold, although this poses less of an impact to the squad.

Both sides in the title race have seemingly refused to strengthen their squad in this transfer window, and even if you look at 3rd place Spurs, who aren’t out of the race yet by any means, they haven’t signed anyone either, although their financial position with a new stadium on the way excuses this.

If an injury crisis hits either Liverpool or Man City in the final few months, they may heavily regret not strengthening in the January window.