Have we done enough in the transfer market?

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Marvin.

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The problem with this window is that all this should have been done in the Summer but that said, I think our squad will challenge for the title in 2025-26 providing Rodri makes a full recovery. It's very difficult to know what impact overseas signings from the Winter will make. Not only are they all new to us but even if they are top class players it will probably take the rest of the season for them to settle in, nevertheless at this moment in the season, you wonder what our potential is.

Attack

In the last month, Savinho has started to play at a very high level coinciding with Pep moving him to the left. Then we can add Marmoush and Oscar Bobb. Our forward line looks incredibly exciting but it will take time for Marmoush and Bobb to settle in and recover respectively. We have secured the long term future of Haaland! We also have Doku who can turn a game and is brilliant at beating a player. He is young and will develop. If Bobb develops and Marmoush translates his goals and assists from the Bundesliga to the Premier League it would be spectacular. I think this area of our side has struggled a lot this season because of the sale of Alvarez, and immediate injury to Bobb, and short term injuries to Doku plus the settling in period of Savinho, but all those problems appear to be resolving themselves.

Midfield

The injury to Rodri was hugely damaging and that has been compounded by the age of KDB and Gundogan. But when Rodri is fit we have the Ballon D'or winner plus POTY, Foden. Foden struggled when he returned but is now approaching his best. We can add Gonzalez, Bernardo, Kovacic, Macatee, Rico and O'Reilly. I think that if Rodri is back to his best, that is an outstanding midfield.

Defence

I think there is one significant problem at right back which we can cover through central defenders if we can get Dias and Ake fit. This season Stones, Ake, Dias have all suffered significant injury problems and presumably this is why City brought in Reis and Khusanov as the injury problems had become chronic. On paper, Dias and Stones is an excellent partnership and Gvardiol is an outstanding left sided footballer. He can play anywhere on the left he is that good. He is a little slow and that is his only weakness. I think Khusanov and Reis are too young to start in the Premier League this season.

This season

I think we should finish in the top 4 and we could win the FA Cup. We probably have too many short term problems to expect to beat Real Madrid, but you never know in a 2-legged tie. We could do it.

Next season

We will challenge for the title. This season has been seriously affected by serious and chronic injuries. We have found a top class player in Savinho and Rodri will return. Marmoush and Bobb have a very high potential so I think we are well set. Gonzalez adds to the quality in midfield
 
For me we needed an experience centre back and right back! We chose young defenders and no fullback!

We got our experience forward midfield which will improve us!
 
Marvin. said:
The problem with this window is that all this should have been done in the Summer but that said, I think our squad will challenge for the title in 2025-26 providing Rodri makes a full recovery. It's very difficult to know what impact overseas signings from the Winter will make. Not only are they all new to us but even if they are top class players it will probably take the rest of the season for them to settle in, nevertheless at this moment in the season, you wonder what our potential is.

Attack

In the last month, Savinho has started to play at a very high level coinciding with Pep moving him to the left. Then we can add Marmoush and Oscar Bobb. Our forward line looks incredibly exciting but it will take time for Marmoush and Bobb to settle in and recover respectively. We have secured the long term future of Haaland! Wwe also have Doku who can turn a game and is brilliant at beating a player. He is young and will develop. If Bobb develops and Marmoush translates his goals and assists from the Bundesliga to the Premier League it would be spectacular. I think this area of our side has struggled a lot this season because of the sale of Alvarez, and immediate injury to Bobb, and short term injuries to Doku plus the settling in period of Savinho, but all those problems appear to be resolving themselves.

Midfield

The injury to Rodri was hugely damaging and that has been compounded by the age of KDB and Gundogan. But when Rodri is fit we have the Ballon D'or winner plus POTY, Foden. Foden struggled when he returned but is now approaching his best. We can add Gonzalez, Bernardo, Kovacic, Macatee, Rico and O'Reilly. I think that if Rodri is back to his best, that is an outstanding midfield.

Defence

I think there is one significant problem at right back which we can cover through central defenders if we can get Dias and Ake fit. This season Stones, Ake, Dias have all suffered significant injury problems and presumably this is why City brought in Reis and Khusanov as the injury problems had become chronic. On paper, Dias and Stones is an excellent partnership and Gvardiol is an outstanding left sided footballer. He can play anywhere on the left he is that good. He is a little slow and that is his only weakness. I think Khusanov and Reis are too young to start in the Premier League this season.

This season

I think we should finish in the top 4 and we could win the FA Cup. We probably have too many short term problems to expect to beat Real Madrid, but you never know in a 2-legged tie. We could do it.

Next season

We will challenge for the title. This season has been seriously affected by serious and chronic injuries. We have found a top class player in Savinho and Rodri will return. Marmoush and Bobb have a very high potential so I think we are well set.
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A really good post. 'Chat GPT', really?

With the benefit of hindsight, we should have strengthened earlier, of course, but we could not predict the decade's worst injury list, with key defensive players out for lengthy periods, and those returning often then out again. I think you are correct in much of what you say.
 
Like you say we're a transfer window late, exacerbated by injuries and poor transfer windows in the last 18 months.

It was a good window but I don't think 2 centre backs was necessary, a right back is needed. Unless the plan is to put one of them out there or Akanji who isn't playing great.

We'll still need more in the summer.

The whole thing rests on Nico Gonzalez settling fast.
 
Moss Side's Finest said:
Didn't know that Chat GPT was a member of the forum......lol
Click to expand...
Chat GPT two minutes ago?

Manchester City has made some key moves during the January 2025 transfer window, although their activity has been relatively subdued compared to some of their rivals. While they did bring in new faces, the club tends to be more strategic with their signings, rather than making splashes in every window.

The most notable signing has been Josko Gvardiol, the Croatian center-back, who adds more depth to their defense. This could be seen as a reinforcement in a key area, considering the team's need for stability at the back due to injuries or rotation in the defensive line.

City’s transfer strategy has focused more on adding quality in positions that may require strengthening, rather than overhauling their squad. Some fans may argue that, given their recent successes and ongoing competition in multiple fronts (Premier League, Champions League), they might have needed to make additional moves, particularly in attack or midfield, where rotation or injury concerns could be more prominent.

It’s safe to say that City has done enough to maintain their competitive edge, but whether it’s been enough depends on how they fare in the second half of the season, especially against a challenging set of competitors.
 
Personally I think we've had a great window, I just hope the new guys are playing sooner rather than later and they kick start better performances all round!
 
waspish said:
For me we needed an experience centre back and right back! We chose young defenders and no fullback!

We got our experience forward midfield which will improve us!
Click to expand...
I think our defence is good IF Stones and Dias are fit. For the medium term, Khusanov and Reis might be a fix. We cannot really say. We definitely need a right back.

The prognosis on the defence depends on their potential to stay clear of injury. I am assuming that Stones is over his foot problem. Dias has in the past been a reliable player and his current injury seems minor. In one week we could be back in the middle of an injury crisis but I think this is bad luck / fatigue from a very hard schedule.
 
The amount of games and less recovery time means younger players are the answer now in football.
They just need to be coached the right way and implemented correctly into the structure of the team.
I think we are well on our way with this first set of signings for our rebuild
 
Marmoush is a good signing and Gonzalez fills a position we need but i have no idea how good he is.

Essentially the two young defenders will probably only start in the game against Leyton Orient and then we probably wont see them again before April as I cannot see a game that Pep will want to try them in unless we go 3-0 up. After LO we play Madrid twice, Newcastle, Liverpool, Forest, Spurs and Brighton before the next international break when are Khusanov or Reis ever going to be played unless the injuries come back / continue.

For the here and now our business will hardly any make any difference at all, it might improve us a bit, but hopefully they will all come good for next season. The way i look at it is we only really signed two players that Pep will realistically play especially in the next 2 months and we probably needed more than two.
 
Kippax77 said:
The amount of games and less recovery time means younger players are the answer now in football.
They just need to be coached the right way and implemented correctly into the structure of the team.
I think we are well on a way with this first set of signings for our rebuild
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Buying 19,20 year olds is typical for City wrt to the academy / City group but our injury problems have been so extensive that they have gone straight into the first team. I don't think that they will play in the league much. It is impossible, or very difficult to say how they will develop. We have a lot of very young players who look very close to starting e.g., O'Reilly and Macatee but they don't play.

I agree that the Premier League is getting physically very intense. This has caught us out this season. Gundogan and KDB are just run over when they play.
 
This season for me is a bust, top 4 is all that matters, happy withe the signings we have made but still hsve concerns in some positons. That said we dont know whst is lined up for the summer window.

All good in my opinon
 
rice10 said:
Marmoush is a good signing and Gonzalez fills a position we need but i have no idea how good he is.

Essentially the two young defenders will probably only start in the game against Leyton Orient and then we probably wont see them again before April as I cannot see a game that Pep will want to try them in unless we go 3-0 up. After LO we play Madrid twice, Newcastle, Liverpool, Forest, Spurs and Brighton before the next international break when are Khusanov or Reis ever going to be played unless the injuries come back / continue.

For the here and now our business will hardly any make any difference at all, it might improve us a bit, but hopefully they will all come good for next season. The way i look at it is we only really signed two players that Pep will realistically play especially in the next 2 months and we probably needed more than two.
Click to expand...
We already had a good squad but the injuries of Rodri and Bobb were very damaging. We lost Alvarez, Bobb was the reason we let him go. Savinho has recently started to fly. I think if Rodri gets fit, and the central defenders recover from their spate of injuries we would be very strong and that's without considering the contributions from Gonzalez and Marmoush.
 
The criticism would be at right back but we had a lot of problems. 2 senior top quality players at a good age plus 2 for the future is the most we could expect. If you ask what type of player would make the most immediate impact this season, I would have said right back. Nunes is not a right back, neither is Rico. We have been unable to play Akanji or Stones there because the central defenders are always injured. This is the biggest weakness at City I think.
 
Moss Side's Finest said:
Didn't know that Chat GPT was a member of the forum......lol
Click to expand...
You do it then. Afternath of the transfer window is something to discuss. I knew it was a bit general but it's hard to write about the potential of players that you really know nothing about. I do know what our weaknesses are. We all do. No right back, a hitherto small and injury hit squad and one that was aging so that players like Gundogan and KDB would be blown away. Now, if nothing else, we shouldn't have to play 33,34 years olds in the centre of our midfield.
 
Losing Rodri was a disaster, then Ake, Dias and Stones, even Akanji have had recurring injury/fitness problems. Little wonder we have conceded more goals than Everton, for example. I think Pep didn’t play the new defenders against Arsenal because he didn’t want to destroy their confidence, it was an encouraging display from Marmoush and I hope Gonzales settle in quickly as we need to fill that huge hole that opens up every time we lose possession up front. Overall, I am satisfied with the window, all the players signed potentially have a big role to play sooner or later, if they are as good as we are told. The big question is how we can move older players on and get enough money to buy more young talent, or at least give Bobb, McAtee, O’Reilly and Lewis a chance to develop alongside the new guys. We also have Echeverri on board now, another exciting prospect. So yes, we did enough, but this is just the start of a new phase. I am glad Pep signed a contract extension because he will coach the best and hopefully leave a youthful legacy when he moves on.
 
Considering winter transfers are more complicated I'm happy with the incomings. Only position I feel like we needed to cover which we haven't was right back. Other than that time will tell how successful it was based on if we get champions league football next year.
 
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