I don’t really get what people think was realistically going to happen with our transfer business when it comes to cover for Rodri. It’s meaningless and glib to say City should have had players lined up on 1 January as the world doesn’t work like that. The club’s battling the 115 charges which, like it or not, may well have put a lot of players off. Add to that the fact that Guardiola’s coming the end of his time so that’s not the selling point it once was and any prospective holding midfielder would know, all things being equal, that Rodri’s first choice, therefore City may well have struggled to find someone of sufficient quality to join.
Like everyone of here, the club probably look at the players available and conclude that there’s no obvious standout candidate for whom we should break the bank, so any signing carries some risk. It’s not like loads of top-drawer holding midfielders have moved that City have missed out on. Just like us, the club probably has been stung by the experience with Phillips and Nunes, which may well have made them far more cautious.
It’s hard to stomach as supporters when we have to put up with poor results, but transfers are only one part of the club’s business and priorities, therefore, throwing words around like negligent is quite myopic because the board has to consider every aspect of the club’s finances and performance, not just results over the course of a few months. Clearly the club gambled to an extent by not refreshing the squad earlier, but Rodri being out for the season was worst case scenario, it wasn’t inevitable. I'm not sure there's any evidence that ACL injuries amongst footballers correlate with minutes played, but happy to be corrected if it is the case.
The biggest gamble might not have been failing to sign more players in the summer per se, but failing to recognise the unprecedented achievement of winning four titles in a row (and the treble) would inevitably precipitate a drop-off in performance. However, nobody really anticipated the extent of drop-off from the likes of De Bruyne, Gundogan, Silva, Walker etc. Or whatever's gone on with Grealish and, to an extent, Foden. Maybe City just need a fallow year.