Manager Pep Guardiola has a list of five players he wants to sign to improve Manchester City's squad as the January transfer window approaches.
Guardiola is on an unprecedented run of form at Man City, winning just once in 13 games. The reigning Premier League champions have slipped to seventh in the table, 14 points behind leaders Liverpool.
The Spaniard is keen to see new players arrive at the Etihad in early 2025 if the club's finances allow. The Citizens have suffered a number of injuries in defence, while Rodri is set to miss most of the season.
"If we can, we definitely have to add players. We have difficulties especially in defence and midfield. I think we have to do that, but I don't know if it will happen. The winter transfer window is not easy," said the Man City head coach.
According to The Times, Martin Zubimendi, Bruno Guimaraes, Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz and Marc Guehi are all being considered by Man City. Zubimendi and Guimaraes would give them more support in central midfield to compensate for the absence of Rodri.
Guardiola's side have been linked with both players in the past. Bruno Guimaraes's price tag would not be easy to swallow given his importance to Newcastle. Zubimendi, meanwhile, rejected a move to Liverpool last summer to stay at Real Sociedad.
In the case of Guehi, an offer of around £70m from Newcastle was rejected by Crystal Palace in the summer of 2024. The Eagles value the centre-back highly after an impressive summer with England at EURO 2024.
Bundesliga stars Musiala and Wirtz would provide more attacking options for the Citizens, but both are only 21 and are unlikely to move to the Etihad in January. Furthermore, neither Bayern Munich nor Bayer Leverkusen have any desire to sell their young stars.
In that context, Guardiola believes injuries have had a significant impact on Man City's decline. "Sometimes you have injuries. For many years we were very stable but now we are a bit down and the main reason is that too many important players are injured.
But I saw the team spirit, the way we trained this week, the way they focused, the way they tried to train. We saw that in the game against Everton, but unfortunately we couldn't get the result we wanted" - the Spanish strategist added.
