Manchester City's 4-0 opening day success over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League now feels like an awfully long time ago.
Indeed, since Pep Guardiola's men romped home to a resounding victory at Molineux, the Citizens have tasted defeat two times in quick succession, with Tottenham Hotspur proving to be their kryptonite once more in a 2-0 home loss, before travelling to Brighton and Hove Albion and coming unstuck late on in a 2-1 defeat.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola looks dejected as he applauds fans after the match
This poor start to the season, after a topsy-turvy 2024/25 campaign, will be seriously worrying to those who fill out the Etihad week in, week out, who will now be fearing a defeat in the Manchester Derby later on today.
Suffering those two defeats on the spin does look to have jolted City into life as to what they could do when transfers are back in play, with one new defensive target already reportedly on their shopping list who could soon call Gianluigi Donnarumma a teammate at the back.
donnarumma-psg
City's potential transfer business
It will be interesting to see if the former Paris St. Germain goalkeeper gets the nod to start over James Trafford against Ruben Amorim's Red Devils, having now sealed a move to England.
Guardiola might well favour his new recruit over the young Englishman, considering City have conceded four goals across their last two defeats, with one effort conceded against Spurs all Trafford's own making.
England's James Trafford during the warm up before the match
The Spaniard might also have a move for Marc Guehi up his sleeve to further improve his defensive personnel, with Football Insider recently revealing that City could soon beat Liverpool to the signature of the Crystal Palace centre-back.
Amazingly, the leaky former Premier League champions might even be able to snap up Guehi on a free transfer, with it going down as a big coup to snatch the England international away from the reaches of Anfield for nothing.
Just fresh off scoring his first-ever England goal during the international break, Guehi will hope he can land a bumper move in the near future to the likes of City, having seen a deadline-day move to Liverpool heartbreakingly fall through.
However, the inconsistent Citizens might well be brewing their own homegrown version of Guehi right now, who has been showered with some very high praise already, despite only being 17 years of age.
Man City's own homegrown Guehi
After all, the sparkling success story of Rico Lewis in the first team picture at the Etihad is enough to give City great confidence in the next generation of talents coming through, with Lewis recently penning a new contract at his boyhood club that takes him to 2030.
By that point, City academy starlet Stephen Mfuni will be hoping he's making waves in the senior picture himself, having already been branded as "one of the most talented teenage CBs in world football" by scout Jacek Kulig last year.
Kulig further expands to state that Mfuni is both "dominant" and "elegant" with his general play out from the back, with the teenager now hopeful he can be a similar Lewis-style revelation in the City first-team and perhaps save Guardiola and Co. some hassle in the market by further being a Guehi-like presence.
After all, the in-demand Eagles defender is also a well-rounded player in his own right at Selhurst Park, having had to wrestle with the difficulties, too, of being a promising youngster himself at Chelsea.
Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi celebrates scoring their second goal
He boasts an 85% pass accuracy in the Premier League this season, also matched by his ability to win four duels on average per clash as a dominant force aerially.
Mfuni's U19 Euros numbers
Stat - per 90 mins*
Games played
Goals scored
Assists
Touches*
Accurate passes*
Key passes*
Ball recoveries*
Clearances*
Total duels won*
Stats by Sofascore
Mfuni has also displayed this same forceful presence in the air when heading home a recent goal in U18 action versus the Red Devils last season, with his overall numbers for the England U19s in the recent U19 Euros - as seen above - further showing off a talent that's both calm on the ball but fierce in a battle, much like the soon-to-be out-of-contract warrior.
Of course, it would be foolish to anticipate that Mfuni would be able to come into the first-team picture right away and be as confident as Guehi, with the 25-year-old having to fight hard himself to become a Premier League-established star, as seen in his top-flight debut not coming until he was 21.
Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi in action
Yet, the hope will be - down the line - that the teenage sensation can be City's own homegrown version of Guehi, regardless of whether Guardiola and Co. get their hands on the 6-foot titan or not.