Manchester City have just found the joy of victory again when defeating Leicester City 2-0 away in round 19 of the Premier League. This victory has helped the players somewhat relieve the pressure after a series of disastrous matches in recent times. However, Pep Guardiola and the board of directors 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 winter transfer window of 2025.
This is a rare move since the Spanish strategist began leading The Citizens. Over the past 9 years, Aymeric Laporte was the only major deal that Man City made in the winter transfer window. Besides recruiting new players, the blue half of Manchester is said to be ready to sell veterans in January.
According to GOAL, the first name that could be put up for sale by The Citizens is Kyle Walker. The English defender is the representative image of a Man City that has declined and is past 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 However, when going through the other side of his career, the 34-year-old defender has no longer maintained his physical strength and speed.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 would be a beneficial choice for both sides.According to The Sun, Al-Ahli are interested in the case of Kyle Walker, where this defender can reunite with his old teammate Riyad Mahrez.In addition, the possibility of Walker returning to his childhood team 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 having Ederson's services.
Now, the 53-year-old strategist may regret this decision. According to GOAL, Man City is ready to sell Ederson in this 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 replacing Rodri. In addition to Martin Zubimendi or Bruno Guimaraes, Man City are said to be eyeing 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 need 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 a top striker.
GOAL newspaper assessed that Pep Guardiola was too confident in Erling Haaland and Phil Foden to carry the attack after their excellent scoring record last season. Meanwhile, Jeremy Doku and new signing Savinho have not shown the necessary efficiency this season. This led to Man City's attack often playing deadlocked 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 proven striker to be able to carry the attack. Among the targets, Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen) is considered a dream choice. The German player is valued at around 100 million pounds 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) would 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).
