Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says he was wrong to tell the club he did not need any summer signings ahead of this season.
With City’s season faltering, it’s expected they will look to the transfer market in January to try and boost their fortunes.
They are not often the ones to make major signings mid-season. The last high-profile arrival at the Etihad during the January window was Aymeric Laporte, who joined from Athletic Bilbao in 2018 for £57m.
But the champions are now close to signing Uzbekistan international Abdukodir Khusanov.
The Lens defender is set to join after the two clubs agreed a fee of £33.6m.
On top of this, Pep is also keen to sign forward Omar Marmoush from Eintracht Frankfurt, and City are monitoring young Palmeiras defender Vitor Reis.
Moving in the other direction, veteran defender Kyle Walker looks set to move overseas. The 34-year-old has been linked with Serie A side AC Milan.
Pep Guardiola Admits No Summer Signings Was A Mistake
With several big injuries – such as Ballon d’Or winner Rodri’s ACL rupture – City are light on bodies.
Guardiola has since admitted he made a mistake in telling the club he didn’t need any summer signings.
He said: “In the summer the club thought about it and I said ‘no, I don’t want to make any signings’.
“I relied a lot on these guys and thought I can do it again.
“But after the injuries – wow – maybe we should have done it.”
City’s slump in form has seen them fall to sixth in the Premier League table. They are out of the EFL Cup and 22nd of 36 in the Champions League.
With only the top 24 sides reaching the knockouts or playoffs, City are on the brink of European elimination as well.
Defensively, City are especially short-staffed at present. Both John Stones and Ruben Dias are out of Tuesday’s trip to Brentford, while Kyle Walker may still be excluded.
“We knew at the beginning of the season we will have a lot of players over 30,” added Guardiola.
“We knew sooner or later, we should do it. Step by step we had to change.
“But five or six months ago, they won the Premier League, four in a row, reached the FA Cup final and quarter-final of the Champions League. The amount of injuries we had, I didn’t expect it.”
