Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola
Manchester City are ready to tear up their own blueprint for success by splashing the cash next month.
City prefer to do their transfer business in the summer, but seven defeats in 10 games means the champions’ season is already on the brink of collapse in both the Premier League and Champions League.
Now Pep Guardiola will be given the green light to spend heavily in the New Year after raising more than £250million in player sales in the last two years. City’s priority is to sign a dominant defensive midfielder to fill the void left by Rodri’s season-ending knee injury.
The Blues are tracking Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi and Atalanta’s Ederson - and neither player will come cheaply. But Guardiola is also targeting a forward player to take the strain off Erling Haaland after failing to replace Julian Alvarez when the Argentine joined Atletico Madrid in an £82million deal in the summer.
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Kyle Walker drastic loss of form could see City pursue a new right-back. City’s last big-money capture in the winter market was Aymeric Laporte, who arrived from Athletic Bilbao in a £57million deal in January 2018.
Argentine teenager Claudio Echeverri will strengthen Guardiola’s squad when he joins on New Year’s Day after being allowed to spend the last 12 months on loan with River Plate after agreeing a £13million move last year.
City face a fight to resurrect their title bid and claim a place in the last 16 of the Champions League. Guardiola’s men face local rivals United in the Manchester derby on Sunday. City’s miserable European campaign has already cost the pre-tournament favourites almost £6million in prize money.
City have won just two of their opening six Champions League games and have also been held to two draws and suffered two defeats. Clubs bank £1.73million for every group stage win and £580,000 for each draw.
City are targeting Martin Zubimendi as a replacement for the injured Rodri
That means City have only claimed £5.76m of the £10.76m that has been on offer. Liverpool by contrast have earned the full amount after winning their first six games and will add a further £3.46million to their kitty if they maintain their 100 percent record in their final two games.
City look to be heading for a play-off in their bid to reach the last 16. They are currently in 22nd place in the table with a trip to Paris St Germain and a home clash with Club Brugge to come. The 16 teams heading into the play-offs will get a father £820,000 from UEFA.
Every club that makes it into the last 16 will claim another £9.1million in prize money. City have reached the knock-out stages of the Champions League in each of the last 11 seasons and lifted the European Cup for the first time in 2023. Failure to reach the last 16 would be a huge blow for both the prestige of the club as well as City’s bank balance.
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