There’s no doubt that Pep Guardiola’s reputation has taken a hit after losing the league in such a convincing manner to Liverpool, while their Champions League exit to Lyon has only compounded matters.
It looks like he and City are going to try and bounce back by doing the only thing they know how – throwing lots of money at new signings in the transfer market.
There’s also an interesting situation across the city where Man United have the makings of a great team, but they desperately need a couple of smart additions to take them to the next level.
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Of course teams will be linked with plenty of names in any transfer window, but it’s starting to look like City could beat United to two of their main targets.
The Express recently reported that United were doing their best to sign Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly, but that now looks very unlikely after Talksport claimed City were closing in on a £63m deal to sign the centre back.
Both teams have a desperate need to improve at the back and Koulibaly looks like the perfect man to bring some quality to their back lines, but they also want to improve going forward too.
Man City recently lost David Silva so there’s an obvious need for a creative midfielder, and Goal have quoted The Athletic in saying that City are now looking likely to beat United to the signing of Jack Grealish too.
There’s no doubt that both players would improve Man United so it will be a bitter blow if they lose on out both of them, especially to their city rivals.