While most Premier League clubs are training players to regain their fitness before the new season, Manchester City's squad is still on hiatus. Erling Haaland and his teammates are trying to make the most of the break after the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup before returning to practice for the pre-season campaign on July 28.
However, coach Pep Guardiola and new sporting director Hugo Viana cannot rest as they are still trying to build the best squad for next season.
The Citizens had a huge transfer start in June, bringing in no less than 5 players ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 at a cost of £111 million. The club continued its success in January, when they spent unprecedentedly large sums of money in the winter transfer window - £180 million for four new signings.
But despite spending a total of more than £290 million in 2025 so far, Man City's embarrassingly early elimination by Al-Hilal at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 has proven that they still have a lot to improve.
At the end of last season, Guardiola hinted at the players he wanted to liquidate. In fact, Guardiola did not even say a word but called out the full name. Specifically Nathan Ake and John Stones.
The Spanish captain did not question their form, instead mentioning the difficulties in maintaining their fitness.
"Ake and Stones have been injured all season. You can't play well if you're not reliable and can't play every 3 days. We need to build a squad for next season," Guardiola said in April.
Stones made 11 Premier League appearances last season, including just six starts. Ake has played 10 tournament games, starting eight. The Dutchman has suffered five injuries throughout the season, with a total of 166 days off.
Although Guardiola is grateful to both players for their contributions to the treble season, his patience has run out.
And as Guardiola is looking to streamline the squad, Ake and Stones are unlikely to be left out of the squad. City currently have three reliable centre-backs: Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol and Manuel Akanji, along with Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis.
Meanwhile, the recruitment of Rayan Ait-Nouri shows that Guardiola wants to return to the traditional back four formation. And he needs to complete this transition by recruiting a top-class right-back.
Tino Livramento is an ideal target, although Newcastle do not want to sell the England international this summer. City have also been linked with a move to follow Flamengo's Wesley, but the Brazilian looks set to join AS Roma.
Last season, The Citizens had three right-backs, but none of them were really suitable for this position. Kyle Walker's form has declined to the point that he had to move to AC Milan on loan, and has since officially signed a long-term contract with Burnley.
Rico Lewis has also struggled to play regularly in this position. His best performance - such as the win over Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semi-finals - came in midfield.
Matheus Nunes has taken time to adapt to the right-back role after Guardiola thought he was not capable enough to become a midfielder. And despite having shining moments and 10 assists, Nunes still struggled against the opposition strikers.
