The Premier League Panel Which teams will get better or worse next season
Pep Guardiola could look to Serie A and La Liga to boost his Premier League title bid in January
Despite falling to six points behind Arsenal with the loss to Aston Villa last weekend, there’s no reason to despair given they came back from eight points behind The Gunners with less than 10 games remaining in 2022/23 and there are certainly no signs of the troubles from last season that had Guardiola making self-harm jokes reappearing in this campaign.
Experience prioritised over youth
Youssouf Ndayishimiye - £23 million from Nice - Kicking us off is a bit of a weird shout given Manchester City don’t usually sign players as old as 27 nowadays unless they’re established superstars like Ilkay Gundogan, Jack Grealish or Gianluigi Donnarumma, who turns that age in February. But we can hear the chants to the tune of Dragostea Din Tei (aka I Don’t Wanna Wait) two months away at least, if the centre-back were to join as cover.
Omar El Hilali - £13m from Espanyol - That’s more like it. Manchester United are reportedly monitoring the 22-year-old right-back so that alone should give the Citizens reason to be interested. El Hilali is far from the finished article and his defending would need to improve at the Etihad Stadium but the Morocco international is certainly a talent, having made three assists in 12 games this season.
Ademola Lookman - £52m from Atalanta - The exception to the rule we mentioned for Ndayishimiye and Vicente, Lookman could well be one of the most in-demand players in the January transfer window.
And for good reason. He averages better than a goal every other game in the last year, a rate bettered by only a handful of other players in his position, while excluding those who played less than four games in the Champions League last season only Raphinha had a better strike rate, t 0.94 non-penalty goals per game.
Galatasaray are reportedly interested and would almost certainly offer higher wages than The Citizens, but obviously couldn’t provide the same opportunities for silverware as Guardiola’s side. Only the London-born 28-year-old will know whether that trade-off is worth is but he’s certainly better prepared for the Premier League than when he failed at Everton.
Summer arrivals quickly out the door
Rayan Ait-Nouri - loan to Everton - There were eyebrows raised in some quarters when Guardiola signed the free-spirited Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers for £36.3m in the summer, though it’s injuries rather than individualism that’s kept the Algerian away from Manchester City’s starting lineup for much of the season. Nico O’Reilly has flourished in his absence, starting nine games, making three goal contributions including an assist in the Champions League and earning a first England call-up, while Everton could use an upgrade at full-back.
Rayan Cherki - loan to Juventus - Manchester City had never signed a player called Rayan before 2025, and then just like London buses, they brought in two over the summer.
Yet FM26 predicts that within six months, both will be playing their football away from the Etihad stadium as Cherki departs for Ait-Nouri. Cherki had a similar flair to the Algerian at his previous club so seemed an unnatural fit for Guardiola but picked up an injury almost immediately so has barely played in sky blue. Unlike Ait-Nouri though, who seems unlikely to depart on loan, Cherki is competing with seven other players for a starting spot on the wing
Issa Kabore - £2.9m to St. Pauli - The full-back has been lighting it up on loan at Wrexham this season and joint top of the club’s Championship assist chart, but aged 24 it feels more likely The Citizens would be willing to cash in on him.
There was another slate of bit-part departures - Jaden Heskey and Emilio Lawrence are sold to West Bromwich Albion and Burnley respectively for nominal fees while Seb Naylor, Justin Oboavwoduo and Matty Warhurst all head to Mumbai City on loan.
Then Divin Mubama (Cardiff City), Tomas Galvez (Mansfield Town), Ryan McAidoo (Bromley) and Joel Ndala (Luton Town) leave for temporary stints in the EFL and Isaiah Dada-Mascoll is loaned to Rochdale.
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