Manchester City’s goal for the 2025/26 season is clear as day.
After experiencing a tough campaign last time around, Pep Guardiola’s men will kick their Premier League campaign off against Wolves next month with the intention of wrestling the title away from Liverpool.
In order to achieve this, changes have occurred over the summer at the Etihad Stadium, with Tijjani Reijnders among the four new faces to arrive at Man City, while Pepijn Lijnders and James French were added to Guardiola’s coaching staff.
Despite this, a worrying pattern has emerged during the transfer window at the Manchester club, and it could highlight how players currently view Man City.
Arne Slot and Pep Guardiola shake hands before Liverpool v Manchester City.
Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Liverpool are a bigger attraction than Manchester City
It was reported this week that Man City are interested in Salford City’s 17-year-old striker Will Wright; however, the English talent would prefer a move to Liverpool if he is to leave the League Two club this summer.
This should be a worry for Guardiola, as this is a scenario that has played out throughout the summer so far.
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Florian Wirtz was Man City’s top target to replace Kevin De Bruyne ahead of the 2025/26 season; however, the German talent opted to move to Liverpool instead of playing his football at the Etihad Stadium.
In addition to the midfielder, Man City were keen on Milos Kerkez to fix their left-back issues before signing Rayan Ait-Nouri, but once again, the Hungarian preferred to be part of Arne Slot’s squad for the upcoming campaign and beyond.
There was also a third player the two Premier League giants had a common interest in, as Man City monitored the situation of Jeremie Frimpong at Bayer Leverkusen before the Dutch star completed his move to Liverpool.
This is a big change from how players viewed the Manchester club compared to their English rivals over the last decade, as it looks like Liverpool are now a bigger attraction than City, having just claimed their 20th Premier League title.
Man City need to fix a big issue before the Premier League starts
Signing new players is one way Man City can close the gap on Liverpool, having finished 13 points behind the Reds during the 24/25 campaign, but there are still issues within Guardiola’s team that have carried over from last season.
Bernardo Silva was frustrated with how Man City controlled transitions during the Manchester club’s FIFA Club World Cup defeat to Al-Hilal this week, which is a problem that was ever present during the last term.
The FIFA Club World Cup showed that City’s defence is still an issue ahead of the Premier League getting underway next month, and if Guardiola’s team are to challenge Liverpool for the title, that will need to be fixed.
Alan Pardew has made Man City his favourites for the upcoming Premier League season, but the former manager is in the minority when it comes to this opinion, as most will side with the defending champions.