‘We have to’ – Pep Guardiola gives major transfer update amid Man City’s injury crisis
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Christmas may have come and gone, but Man City’ boss Pep Guardiola – and his players – are hoping for presents in the form of new signings.
City have been ravaged by injuries over the course of the season, with none more impactful than Ballon d’Or winner Rodri‘s torn ACL which has ruled him out for the season.
Once again City have been bitten by the absentee bug, with Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish, Ederson, Matheus Nunes and John Stones all out of the squad for the Boxing Day fixture against Everton.
The five omissions add to the absences of Ruben Dias, Rodri and young talent Oscar Bobb, who sustained a fractured leg before the season’s start.
Although Stones, Nunes and Ederson were somewhat expected to miss the Everton clash, Walker and Grealish missing out is cause for concern, especially given how threadbare Pep Guardiola‘s squad is at the minute.
Remarkably, City’s squad against Everton marks the first time since May 2017 that at least one of Walker, Stones, Ederson or Grealish has not featured in a Premier League fixture.
Luckily for Guardiola, an opportunity to reinforce his squad is just around the corner in the form of the January transfer window.
Speaking to Amazon Prime ahead of the Everton clash, Guardiola confirmed City will look to be active in the market and will target multiple players.
However, the Spaniard stressed closing a deal in the January window is ‘not easy’.
“If we can, we have to add players, definitely,” Guardiola said.
“We struggle, especially in the back, in the middle.
“Saying that, I don’t know what’s going to happen. Because in the transfer window in winter, it’s not easy. But everybody’s aware.
“I think even the players asked us, ‘We are going to add some players, please.”
Since Guardiola arrived at the Etihad Stadium in July 2016, City have traditionally not been big spenders in January.
He did oversee two big-money arrivals early on in his tenure as Gabriel Jesus and Aymeric Laporte arrived for £26.6million and £54m in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
Since then, the only signing of note made by Guardiola in January was the £17.7m capture of Julian Alvarez from River Plate in 2022.
City’s stars and Guardiola will hope any new arrivals can aid in arresting the club’s alarming form slump of late.
Having won the last four Premier League titles, City have looked a shell of the swashbuckling side that has dominated the English top flight as they enter the Everton fixture in seventh and 12 points away from league leaders Liverpool.
Guardiola’s side have also won just once in their last 12 matches across all competitions, with their latest loss being a 2-1 result away to Aston Villa last Saturday.
They will look to break down an Everton team that has kept an impressive five clean sheets in their last six games, a run which included fixtures against Arsenal, Chelsea and the free-scoring Brentford.
The Toffees have also lost just once in their last six games, with the only defeat being a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Manchester United on December 1.
