Jamie Carragher reckons Man City have a ‘problem’ that could impact their January transfer plans 

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Manchester City could be getting the chequebook out during the upcoming January transfer window.

Back in September, Rodri suffered a season-ending injury during City’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.

Following that, Pep Guardiola discussed signing a midfielder in January to act as a replacement for the injured 2024 Ballon d’Or winner.

With the January transfer window around the corner, a pundit and former Premier League player has suggested that one particular behind-the-scenes factor at the Manchester club could have an impact on their attempts to sign a new face in the winter period.

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Jamie Carragher highlights potential problem for Man City’s January plans

While discussing the Premier League title race in a recent edition of Stick to Football, Jamie Carragher brought up this potential issue regarding City’s possible attempts to sign players in the upcoming January transfer window.

He said: “I think the problem is that – I think City need to buy in January – but the problem would be with the charges stuff is that if you are a player, are you going to sign and then in January or February [the club are charged].”

City have not considered potential punishment clauses in previous transfer contracts

Earlier this month, a report from The Athletic emerged saying this on how City have approached transfer deals whilst dealing with being accused of breaching 115 financial regulations by the Premier League.

It said: “To give a brief idea of the approach within City since the charges landed in February last year, there have been no clauses inserted into new signings’ contracts related to, for example, any potential relegation as, or as a result of, their punishment.

“In most cases, the charges are not even brought up during negotiations, unless it is by an agent. If that is the case, they are told what the City squad was told on the day the charges dropped 18 months ago: that there is nothing to worry about and to get on with the job.”

With that in mind, it would seem likely that this would remain to be the club’s stance in regards to potentially securing transfer deals during the upcoming January window.

However, regardless of what Carragher thinks, City have a significant run of domestic and European fixtures to get through before the winter window opens and the club have the chance to strengthen their squad.

This, therefore, will be Guardiola’s main focus before the Manchester club’s opportunity to splash the cash presents itself.

Especially since the Blues have lost their four previous matches across all competitions, getting his side back on track in the short term has to be the main objective if Guardiola wants to add more trophies to the club’s cabinet by the end of the season.