Manchester City will be busy in the summer transfer window but will not have to do as much work as they otherwise might have done
MONACO, MONACO - OCTOBER 1: Chairman of Manchester City Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Director of Football of Manchester City Hugo Viana attend the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD2 football match between AS Monaco (ASM) and Manchester City at Stade Louis II on October 1, 2025 in Monaco, Monaco. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)
MONACO, MONACO - OCTOBER 1: Chairman of Manchester City Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Director of Football of Manchester City Hugo Viana attend the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD2 football match between AS Monaco (ASM) and Manchester City at Stade Louis II on October 1, 2025 in Monaco, Monaco. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)
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City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak with Hugo Viana
Manchester City have already turned their attention to the summer transfer window. Plenty of effort has gone into the pursuit of Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson, shortlists have been put together for midfield, right-back, and other positions as the Blues look to make sure that they do not lose ground at the top of the Premier League.
It is easy to forget, though, that Hugo Viana has already given the team a massive headstart for next season and beyond by transforming the feel of the January transfer window. Pep Guardiola was used to wincing at the mere mention of it, and City's hierarchy saw it as a weakness to be acting over the winter and an admission that the summer business had not been good enough.
There is obviously merit in that, and the £124m that went on Nico Gonzalez and Omar Marmoush in the January 2025 window is yet to fully prove itself. Both players have had months where they have been important signings, yet they have also had long spells left on the bench by the manager.
The last two winter windows have also shown how they can be used to get ahead rather than be left behind, however. Abdukodir Khusanov was among the 2025 intake and has been one of City's most consistent players in the second half of the season while Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo were both opportunistic buys that have instantly paid off.
Guehi would have left Crystal Palace this summer if City had not manufactured a deal to bring him six months early, while Semenyo had a release clause that activated when the New Year hit. As assistant Pep Lijnders noted, it is always difficult at a top club to sign players capable of changing not just your squad but your starting XI yet Guehi and Semenyo are already locked in for next season and beyond.
Both players have been rewarded for taking the step in their careers but it is City who look like the big winners after a double signing that has galvanised their season. Without those two players, there is a good chance Guardiola would have ended up with zero trophies for the campaign.
Guehi has kept clean sheets in three of his last four appearances and, as important in a title race, has experience of leading to go with his ability. Bernardo Silva is doing an excellent job as captain, but the former Palace skipper's knowhow in that area has enabled him to slot straight into the dressing room.
"I guess it's important for me to just lead the way I've always tried to lead, which is just lead by example," he said. "I'm not a massive talker anyway, but just try and say a few words here and there and try and show what I can do by my performances on the pitch.
"I think it's important that you gel well with the leadership that is already there, that's established at the football club. You don't want to try and be too overpowering or a bit less than that. You try and play off each other, which is important."
The January signings have helped City to be as competitive as they have been for this season, and they have given them a big headstart for the summer with two players intended for the starting XI already up and running at the Etihad.
It would have cost a lot more for City to have left it until the summer window to try and sign two players of that quality.