Manchester City have just regained the joy of victory when defeating Leicester City 2-0 away in round 19 of the Premier League. This victory helped the players somewhat relieve the pressure after a series of disastrous matches in recent times. However, Pep Guardiola and the board still have a lot of work to do if they want to improve The Citizens' turbulent season. One of them is to bring in quality replacements in the 2025 winter transfer window.
This is a rare move since the Spanish strategist began leading The Citizens. Over the past 9 years, Aymeric Laporte has been the only major deal that Man City has made in the winter transfer window. In addition to recruiting new players, the blue half of Manchester is said to be ready to sell the players in January.
According to GOAL, the first name that could be sold by The Citizens is Kyle Walker. The English defender is the representative image of a Man City that has declined and passed its peak. Walker has shown his importance in Pep Guardiola's playing style in the past 2 seasons. However, when going through the other side of his career, the 34-year-old defender has no longer maintained his physical strength and speed. Kyle Walker often makes hasty decisions and has often made his team pay the price for his mistakes.
Therefore, deciding to leave in the winter transfer window will be a beneficial choice for both sides.According to The Sun, Al-Ahli is paying attention to the case of Kyle Walker, where the defender could reunite with his former teammate Riyad Mahrez.In addition, the possibility of Walker returning to his childhood club Sheffield United is also possible.
Similarly, goalkeeper Ederson is also showing signs of declining form after injuries, leading to a series of mistakes since the beginning of the season.There were offers for the Brazilian goalkeeper from the Saudi Pro League last summer.However, the deal did not happen when Pep Guardiola expressed his desire to continue to have the service of Ederson.
Now, the 53-year-old strategist may regret this decision. According to GOAL, Man City is ready to sell Ederson in the winter transfer window if they continue to receive offers from Middle Eastern teams.
On the other hand, the Etihad team needs to quickly bring in new players who are worthy of Rodri's position. In addition to Martin Zubimendi or Bruno Guimaraes, Man City are said to be keeping an eye on midfielder Ederson (Atalanta), Joshua Kimmich or Leon Goretzka ( Bayern Munich) or Ezequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen). These are all midfielders whose contracts will expire in June 2025, or have only 1 year left on their contracts until the summer of 2026.
In addition, Man City also needs to add a quality striker to replace Julian Alvarez. The blue half of Manchester earned 82 million pounds from the sale of Alvarez but made a mistake in not using this profit to find classy strikers.
GOAL newspaper assessed that Pep Guardiola was too confident that Erling Haaland and Phil Foden would carry the attack after their excellent scoring achievements last season. Meanwhile, Jeremy Doku and rookie Savinho have not shown the necessary efficiency this season. This has led to Man City's attack often playing in a deadlock and lacking the necessary creativity.
Manchester City will have the addition of new signing Claudio Echeverr from River Plate in January 2025. However, Man City will still need a striker who has proven his class to be able to carry the attack. Among the targeted targets, Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen) is considered a dream choice. The German player is valued at around £100 million and will find it difficult to decide to leave in the middle of the season. In addition, Omar Marmoush (Eintracht Frankfurt) is also a timely choice, having scored 20 goals in the Bundesliga this season.
On the defensive front, Jarrad Branthwaite (Everton) will be a suitable choice to add solidity in front of goalkeeper Stefan Ortega. In addition, there are still other cases such as Antonio Silva (Benfica) or the duo Goncalo Inacio - Ousmane Diomande (Sporting Lisbon).
