Pep Guardiola has suggested that Manchester City’s transfer strategy has changed following injury to Kevin de Bruyne.
Improving a squad that has just won the treble is arguably harder than it sounds, but City began the summer window quickly when they signed midfielder Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea.
The Premier League champions followed that up with the £77.5m capture of Josko Gvardiol, although negotiations with RB Leipzig for the defender were a long, drawn-out process.
City have not made any more signings, although Guardiola has hinted that may change following De Bruyne’s latest injury.
The 32-year-old injured his hamstring during City’s 3-0 win against Burnley on the opening day of the Premier League season.
MORE MAN CITY STORIES
Further evaluation showed that De Bruyne needed surgery to fix the issue, and will now be out of action for up to five months.
Guardiola hints at more transfers
With that in mind, Guardiola suggested City might have to bring in reinforcements.
“We are talking a lot with Txiki [Begiristain], what to do,” the City boss told the media ahead of City’s Premier League clash against Newcastle.
“I don’t know with Cole what will happen. Maybe we need to add someone else, but at the same time you know my opinion, I like a short [squad].
“But the blow from Kevin, it changed a little bit of [our] perspective. Kevin is a really important player and we haven’t lost him for one week, two weeks. So it’s four months, five months, 32 years old. He needs to [fully recover] physically because his actions need pace.
“So we need to reflect on the squad, thinking about what we have to do. At the same time, the market is the market.
“There are players that are not replaceable. When we go to the market [it is not] to replace Kevin. Maybe we will need [to sign someone], or maybe not. We will see. We are talking and we will see what happens.”