Coach Pep Guardiola once said he was not a "passionate fan" of the January transfer window. However, Manchester City's recent activities show the opposite.
In the last two winter transfer windows, Man City spent up to 264 million pounds to bring in 6 players. But unlike previous fire-fighting contracts, the recruitment of Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi this time is considered a strategic move.
Both Semenyo and Guehi are sought-after names in the Premier League. Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are interested in Semenyo. Even coach Ruben Amorim once directly called to persuade this striker to move to Old Trafford.
Meanwhile, Liverpool was also very close to signing Guehi in the summer of 2025. Even, this center-back was preparing for a medical examination before Crystal Palace suddenly canceled the deal.
It is noteworthy that these two rookies quickly integrated into Guardiola's system. Usually, Man City's new players need time to adapt to the complex tactics of the Spanish strategist. But Semenyo and Guehi immediately made an impact.
The difference in form of The Citizens before and after Semenyo joined is very clear. Previously, the blue team drew all 3 of the first matches in the Premier League 2026 against Sunderland, Chelsea and Brighton, causing them to be 6 points behind Arsenal.
Since Semenyo arrived at Etihad on January 9, Man City has won 9 out of 11 matches in all competitions, only losing to Man United and drawing with Tottenham. The gap with Arsenal will be narrowed to 2 points if they win the rescheduled match against Crystal Palace.
Semenyo alone has scored 6 goals and had two assists since joining, becoming Man City's top scorer in this period, even twice as many as Erling Haaland.
The Ghana striker played an important role in Guardiola's attacking system. He not only supported Haaland but also created more scoring options when the Norwegian striker was tightly marked.
In the victory against Leeds United, Semenyo even directly scored the decisive goal after passing two defenders to receive a pass from Rayan Ait-Nouri.
Those performances show that Semenyo is not only a deep contract to add to the squad, but is becoming one of the most important factors in Man City's journey to compete for the championship.
If Semenyo brings a new attacking option for Man City, then Guehi helps Guardiola's team solve a problem that once threatened to ruin the whole season: the defense crisis.
In early January, Man City fell into a serious central defender shortage when Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias both missed the match against Chelsea. Previously, John Stones also had to be sidelined from December due to injury, after a series of prolonged physical problems since the 2022-2023 treble season.
The crisis forced Man City to call young defender Max Alleyne (20 years old) back from Watford and put him in the starting lineup in the match against Brighton. Alleyne was then paired with Abdukodir Khusanov, a 21-year-old center-back who did not have much experience in the Premier League.
The result was not unexpected. Man City drew with Brighton, then lost 0-2 to Manchester United and was defeated by Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League.
In that context, Guehi - recruited from Crystal Palace for about 20 million pounds - came to Etihad at the right time. The English center-back immediately made his mark with an impressive debut against Wolves, before continuing to play prominently in the away match at Anfield against Liverpool.
Guehi became an important addition to Khusanov - a young player with great potential but lacking top-level playing experience. When Ruben Dias returned, the central defender pair Dias - Guehi quickly showed goodwill, especially in the victory against Leeds United at Elland Road.
