Manchester City took the brave decision of choosing not to sign a striker after Julian Alvarez’s move to Atletico Madrid this summer and so far, it seems their call was a fair one.
Erling Haaland is fit and firing, scoring 11 goals in all competitions for City this season.
It seems like Pep Guardiola’s side are far too reliant on the Norwegian as their primary goalscorer.
But with their second-highest goalscorer in Phil Foden (27 goals in all competitions) from last season being unavailable for a majority of this campaign, perhaps he could take some of the burden off the Leeds-born striker’s shoulders.
While Ilkay Gundogan is still settling into life at the Etihad Stadium, even though he did open the scoring during Manchester City’s 4-0 win against Slovan Bratislava.
Even if the likes of Foden and Gundogan do not chip in with the required number of goals to steer City towards winning major silverware, the club will have to accept their fate until the end of the campaign.
Man City could sign Real Madrid superstar next summer
It is rare that clubs are able to sign top-quality goalscorers in the January transfer window.
Strikers such as Edin Dzeko and Luis Suarez, who joined Manchester City and Liverpool respectively in the winter transfer window are a rarity in general and especially in the current market where there is a dearth of number nines.
The challenge for Pep Guardiola this season will be to try and create tactical solutions that ensure his team continue to score a lot of goals, regardless of whether Haaland gets on the scoresheet.
Otherwise, the Sky Blues could be in deep trouble, especially in the Premier League and the Champions League.
Alvarez was quite a reliable goalscorer and Guardiola’s tactical ingenuity could be tested as he figures out how to ensure his absence at the club is not felt.
In the latest episode of The Transfers Podcast, journalist Duncan Castles initially revealed that Manchester City were making headway in their pursuit of Real Madrid winger Rodrygo Goes.
“And they sought Rodrygo, Real Madrid’s other Brazilian striker as kind of the ideal replacement for Alvarez and had started speaking to the player, started sending out the possibility of a move.”
“Rodrygo was positive towards City. City believed there was the possibility that they could convince the player to go and also that they could come to a deal with Madrid because with Madrid obviously bringing Kylian Mbappe in and Endrick in the summer, it could have made sense for them to allow Rodrygo to leave for a big transfer fee.”
Duncan Castles went on to reveal why any potential move broke down: “In the end, towards that final part of the window, Madrid told Rodrygo to wait, they wanted to see what was happening with Vinicius and to hold on and not agree to anything with Manchester City because the possibility was there, light possibility that Vinicius could be sold [to a Saudi Pro League club] and then Rodrygo’s place and significance to the team could be reinstated.”
However, Castles has stressed that City remain interested in the Brazilian international and he too would be open to a move to the Premier League champions.
“As it turns out, neither deal happened but Rodrygo remains the principal option for Manchester City to strengthen in attack if they see that Madrid will open the door for them to allow to them to take the player.”
“And of course, they’ve had encouragement from the player that he would be interested in moving to England.”
Rodrygo would be a blockbuster signing for Manchester City
For both Manchester City and Rodrygo, a potential transfer would be mutually beneficial.
Described as “elegant” by Carlo Ancelotti via ESPN, the 23-year-old would be able to solve multiple problems for the Sky Blues.
Firstly, Rodrygo would be able to play as a false nine for Manchester City, a position he has played in on several instances for club and country, thrived and scored goals from.
The two-time Champions League winner would also be an upgrade on a raw prospect like Jeremy Doku on the left-wing and a player in Jack Grealish, who is more of a natural midfielder.
Considering Rodrygo does not get regular opportunities to play on the left flank, his natural role at Real Madrid due to the presence of Vinicius Jr., he would be able to do so at City and play his best football.
While the highly-rated wideman is only a part of Los Blancos’ superstar ensemble including Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius and Jude Bellingham, he could become one of the main men at City.
It will be interesting to see if Manchester City do indeed escalate their efforts to secure Rodrygo’s signature in the summer of 2025.
