Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has insisted that he would prefer his current players to be available, rather than bringing in new talent during the January window.
There has been plenty of discussion in recent weeks over Manchester City’s intent to bring in fresh names during the winter market, particularly in light of Rodri’s season-long injury and other problems that have depleted Guardiola’s squad at various points.
Names such as Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi, Atalanta’s Ederson, Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton, and Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes have all been floated for Manchester City’s midfield ranks.
However, the winter window is notably a challenging market to operate in, and City often turn away from doing big-money business in the window largely due to a reluctance from other clubs to negotiate or sell midway through a season.
Speaking on the subject of the upcoming transfer market during his pre-Manchester United press conference on Friday afternoon, Pep Guardiola told reporters, “What I want is my players back, the players that we have!
“I will love desperately to compete with the squad that we had at the beginning of the season. I said many times. This is the only regret that I have; I don’t have the players, THESE players, not new ones. But in the certain moment, the right moment, we will see.”
Touching on the subject of Manchester City’s Annual Report and the record revenue figures that were released by the club on Friday morning, Guardiola insisted that such numbers does not mean he has huge resources to invest into his squad during transfer windows.
“The fact that the Club have revenue that I must congratulate the Club, and the CEO, and Khaldoon [Al Mubarak], and all the people involved in that, because the Club must be sustainable,” said Guardiola.
“That doesn’t mean we have big, big resources to buy whoever we want. Especially today, the transfer market, how expensive is everything. And we proved in the last four, five years, I’m sorry, we are not the best in those terms.”
The 53-year-old went on to explain the depth he has at his disposal when all of his current Manchester City players are fit and available, as he said, “When I have the three, four central defenders, I don’t need central defenders.
“When I have (Mateo) Kovacic and (Ilkay) Gundo, I don’t need a replacement in that position. When I don’t have wingers for the injuries that we had this season, I need wingers.
“When Erling (Haaland) is away, I have Oscar Bobb and Phil Foden to play there and we will have the same goals. If you tell me these players will be fine in this position, we need that, we will go to the transfer market.
“But I don’t know which one because it depends. If we have the four central defenders, I don’t need central defenders.”
Manchester City welcome Manchester United to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon with Ruben Amorim’s side hoping to inflict further troubles upon the reigning Premier League champions, after they have won just once in their last 10 matches across competitions.
