Inside Manchester City’s mega January transfer window

arnav
By Arnav
4 Min Read

Manchester City announced the signing of midfielder Nico González from Porto, capping off a busy January transfer window which saw the reigning Premier League champions spend £180 million on five first-team players.

Despite being known for their big spending in the past, not many would have expected Man City to splurge such a large amount in the winter. Even Pep Guardiola and the club officials were not planning such a big window (as reported by The Athletic), but their disastrous form and key injuries forced their hand. 

Manchester City initially planned to have a quiet January window

Embed from Getty Images

The initial plan in summer 2024 was to largely keep the current squad intact before undergoing an overhaul in a year’s time. And as the Premier League season got underway, there seemed no need to change the plan, with Manchester City unbeaten in their opening nine league games (with seven wins). However, their first defeat of the season, a 2-1 loss at Tottenham, kicked off an unprecedented run of poor form for Man City under Guardiola. They lost five consecutive games (a first for Guardiola) and won just one of 13 matches across two months.

The disastrous run was primarily instigated by injuries to key players like Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne, and Ruben Dias. Man City felt like they had no choice but to start their planned summer overhaul six months early, and they did exactly that, spending 44% of the league’s entire winter expenditure.

A look at Man City January transfers

Embed from Getty Images

Man City’s first two signings were exciting young centre-backs Abdukodir Khusanov, 20, and Vitor Reis, 19. The defenders joined from RC Lens and Palmerias, respectively, with City spending £33 million on Khusanov and £30 million on Reis. Then came the big arrival, £62 million forward Omar Marmoush from Eintracht Frankfurt. The 25-year-old has been in scintillating form this season, recording 15 goals and nine assists in 17 Bundesliga starts. 

The club weren’t done yet. Manchester City confirmed the signing of Juma Bah, 18, from Real Valladolid for a reported fee of £5 million before loaning him to Lens. And then came the time to say goodbye to Kyle Walker, with the 34-year-old Man City legend completing a loan move to AC Milan and likely to have played his last game for the club.

With the window closing soon, Manchester City realized they had not signed a player in the one position they so desperately needed – centre-midfield. They identified Porto’s Nico Gonzalez as their number one target and completed a £50 million deadline-day move for him.

Pep Guardiola’s men now sit fifth in the league standings, 15 points behind Liverpool, who have a game in hand. While it’s more or less a given that they can’t retain the title, a top-three league finish and a deep run in the Champions League and the FA Cup will salvage some pride for the Citizens.

Share This Article
Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *