Panicked Manchester City stars will be talking to their agents to clarify the turbulent situation at the club, believes Premier League legend Joe Cole.
The Blues' dismal run of form hit a new low on Wednesday night, when Juventus inflicted their seventh loss in only 10 matches. A 2-0 defeat in Turin has also left City scrambling to make it into the knockout stages of the Champions League, with only two matches remaining in the league phase.
As manager Pep Guardiola frantically tries to get to the root of City's problems, and worrying rumours swirl about the potential punishments that could arise from their 115 charges, Cole expects confused players to be seeking clarification behind the scenes.
"We don’t know what’s happening with the financial situation," Cole told TNT Sports. "When the sanctions came and everyone thought, ‘What’s going to happen?’ [It was still] business as usual on the pitch.
"But players are human and they’ll be wondering what’s happening. They’ll be talking to their agents and hearing rumours. They’ll be hearing the manager’s got a year left on his contract [which was recently extended until 2027], ‘I’ve got three years left on my contract, what’s the situation?’"
It remains to be seen whether the turmoil at City leads to more serious conversations between players and agents, or even a wave of January departures. Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan are both coming towards the end of their deals and will be free to speak to overseas clubs about pre-contract agreements from the start of next month.
Reflecting on the Juve defeat, Liverpool hero Jamie Carragher suspects that rival coaches will be pleased to see Guardiola enduring a tough time. "He's never gone through this before, so he's got no experience in this situation," he told CBS Sports. "Nothing to fall back on - because he's been so successful in the past!
"I think there are a lot of coaches around the world looking at Pep with a wry smile and thinking, 'Finally, Pep Guardiola is going through something that we've all been through at some stage in our career!'"
Next up for the reigning Premier League champions is a high-stakes clash with local rivals Manchester United on Sunday. And Red Devils legend Rio Ferdinand believes that it would be the perfect stage on which for City to kill off their confidence crisis.
"You can't be as successful as they have been and not be able to get this back on track," he said on TNT Sports. "That can't be right. They could not ask for a better game than the derby versus Man United. It won't reinstill every bit of confidence, but it will go a huge way to reinvigorating the team."