PEP GUARDIOLA plans to hit the January sales for the first time in SEVEN years in a bid to halt Manchester City’s alarming slump.
Guardiola will be handed a war chest after the champions made more than £250million on player trading over the past two years.
Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes and fellow midfielder Martin Zubimendi of Real Sociedad are on City’s radar following Ballon d’Or winner Rodri’s season-ending ACL injury.
The champions have lost seven of their last 10 matches with injuries hitting them hard during a nightmare six weeks.
So they will scour the market when the window opens next month in a bid to save their faltering season.
City are aware it is difficult to sign top players in the winter and have not done major business since they signed centre-back Aymeric Laporte in 2018.
And the board will back Guardiola if the right man is available at a good price.
Bruno is believed to be keen on a move to City but persuading the Toon to part with one of their key men in the middle of the season will be tricky.
He was valued at £100m by his club in the summer – which was considered unrealistic by City – but his form this season has not justified that figure.
Zubimendi was a target for Liverpool earlier this year and opted to stay in Spain but is now more open to offers.
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The Etihad hierarchy have always tried to plan their windows in advance but the long list of injuries has left the squad creaking with a lot of matches still ahead.
Meanwhile City’s below par Champions League form has already cost them almost £6m.
And they could be hit in the pocket by another £9m if they fail to reach the Last 16 in the New Year.
Under the new league format, teams receive £1.7m for a win and around £600,000 for a draw.
Rivals Liverpool have led the way, banking the maximum amount from their six league fixtures so far.
Meanwhile, City have won just two of theirs – against Slovan Bratislava and Sparta Prague.
They drew with Inter Milan as well as Feyenoord and lost to Sporting Lisbon as well as Juventus – leaving their participation in the latter rounds in the balance.
Under Guardiola, City traditionally made light work of the group stages – and won all six last year.
This time they sit back in 22nd place in the table and will need points in their final two games next month to avoid an embarrassing early exit.
MAN CITY began the season as favourites to win the Premier League title yet again – but there is one elephant in the room that threatens to put the skids under the Etihad giants.
Sunsport’s MARTIN LIPTON discusses what the next few months could hold with Head of Sport SHAUN CUSTIS….
Custis: So the big question – will there be a resolution this season?
Lipton: Yes…. probably! It will take at least a month to go through the evidence. So I suspect around March, April time, we will get a result. But that’s where it starts to get tricky.
Custis: Why is that?
Lipton: If the result is in City’s favour, that’s the end of the matter. They will be cleared. They will have no punishment to face.
But if City are found guilty, these will be the heaviest penalties ever imposed by the Premier League.
I suspect if they are found guilty, they will be expelled from the league or given a massive points deduction and a huge fine so that they’re not in the Premier League next season.
Check out the full discussion on Man City’s future.
