Breaking the club’s record in the winter transfer market was not a choice for Manchester City’s officials. The team’s poor results in the first half of the season, along with the risk of a disastrous finish in May, pushed decision-makers to give Spanish coach Pep Guardiola what could be called a “blank cheque” to strengthen the team with the necessary players and fix the situation before it became too late.
Guardiola quickly signed four players in different positions. The most notable addition was Egyptian Omar Marmoush, the top scorer for Eintracht Frankfurt, for 75 million euros. In addition, Manchester City signed Uzbek defender Abdulkadir Khusanov for 40 million euros, Brazilian Vitor Reyes for 37 million euros, and Portuguese Nico Gonzalez for 60 million euros on the final day of the transfer market.
Although many experts believe that new players need time to adjust to the Premier League’s pace, Manchester City does not have that luxury. They must achieve their goals from this spending immediately, even though the official aim is to rebuild the team from this winter rather than wait until the next summer.
18 decisive days for Manchester City
After their heavy loss to Arsenal (1-5) in the Premier League, Manchester City dropped to fifth place with 41 points, 15 points behind Liverpool, who still have a game in hand. Their hopes of competing for the Premier League title are now almost gone, which means they need to focus on the remaining two cup competitions (the FA Cup and the Champions League), as well as securing one of the top positions to qualify for the Champions League next season.
In this context, the next 18 days in February will be crucial for Manchester City. They will face a series of challenging matches in a short period, across various competitions.
The Citizens begin their busy run with what should be a straightforward match against Leyton Orient (from the third division) in the FA Cup’s round of 16 next Saturday. Then, they will host Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium for the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. Just four days later, they will face Newcastle, who have won seven of their last nine league matches.
On February 19, Manchester City will travel to Madrid for a pivotal match at the Santiago Bernabéu. They will then host Premier League leaders Liverpool at the Etihad on February 23, and their marathon of matches will finish with a trip to Tottenham on February 26.
Complaining about the domestic calendar
Pep Guardiola followed in the footsteps of many previous managers by publicly expressing his frustration with the scheduling of English football competitions. He pointed out that the calendar, which includes three domestic competitions, does not give teams in other European leagues the same opportunity for rest, affecting their ability to compete at a high level.
Guardiola spoke out about the Premier League’s tough schedule for teams competing in European competitions, saying: “It has always been like this for many years. I remember Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger complaining about the same thing.”
When asked if English champions deserved more support, Guardiola replied: “Are you asking me this silly question after all these years? Don’t ask me to say something rude. I’m not complaining. We won the treble and had incredible success at the time. Of course, I want more time. But if you don’t like it, go to another country and don’t be a manager of Manchester City.”
