Manchester City loaned out Joao Cancelo to Bayern Munich and didn’t manage to bring in a replacement before the transfer window shut, resulting in many supporters being disappointed with their transfer activity last month.
Pep Guardiola finds himself very short at fullback (Rico Lewis, Kyle Walker, Sergio Gomez), but it was pretty clear early on deadline day that City were going to risk not signing a left-back until the summer.
And while fans will be shocked at how reckless the decision seems for a side in the Premier League title race, City have previous for this. They seldom do business in January as it’s hard to get coveted transfer targets and there isn’t enough time to hash out a deal.
Since spending £57m on Aymeric Laporte in January 2018, City have signed only five players in January transfer windows – Ante Palaversa (from Hadjuk Split in 2019), Ko Itakura (from Kawasaki Font in 2019), Diego Rosa (from Gremio in 2021), Julián Álvarez (from River Plate in 2022) and Maximo Perrone (from Velez Sarsfield in 2023).
They wait until the summer to make the important signings and will use January to negotiate deals or bring in young talent before loaning them out. While frustrating City didn’t try to sign a replacement for Cancelo, this behaviour isn’t out of the ordinary and a left-back (maybe Antonee Robinson) is sure to be signed ahead of next season instead.
In other news, Phil Foden ‘destined’ to change position under Pep Guardiola
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