Manchester City have not quite been the force some people expected them to be this season.
Following the unbelievable high of completing an historic Treble in May, City have found the going tough at times this season in the Premier League.
City won all six of their group stages Champions League games, but sit fourth in the league behind Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa.
There has been some talk about Pep Guardiola potentially strengthening in January as the club seek to make up the ground on the other clubs.
There has been some talk of City moving for the likes of Joao Pahinha or Andre. But it seems outgoings are probably more likely, with Kalvin Phillips linked with Juventus.
Now, there is word from the very reliable David Ornstein about what the plan is for January…
Manchester City set to make no senior signings in January
Reporting in The Athletic, journalist David Ornstein has given a rundown of what each Premier League will be doing in January in terms of transfers.
City fans hoping to hear of any plans to make signings are going to be disappointed, because Ornstein reports that, currently, the City recruitment team is not planning to make any senior signings in the next window.
This would be no real surprise. We have seen over the years that January signings are not all that frequent for City.
Last January, the club did not make any first-team additions mid-season, and in January 2022, only Maximo Perrone came in. A deal was completed for Julian Alvarez, but he did not arrive at the Etihad until the summer.
Seemingly, City officials are hoping that the return of key players from injury will be enough to help the team turn things around.
Kevin De Bruyne coming back will hopefully be a big catalyst, with the Belgian having finally returned to training this week after undergoing surgery on his hamstring.
City have the quality to turn things around
It is no surprise to read that City are not expecting to make senior additions at the moment. that said, Ornstein does state in his report though that ‘unforeseen activity should never be discounted’.
It may have been a tricky start so far in the Premier League, but City have a squad that is packed with quality and you would like to think that Pep Guardiola will get things sorted after the Club World Cup.
The return of De Bruyne could be colossal, and it will also be really good to have him playing in the same team as the likes of Jeremy Doku and Erling Haaland.
New signings Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes have had time to get to grips with the City way now and could really kick on in the second half of the season.
There is no need to panic yet. City have taken 34 points from their 17 games so far and last term, City had taken 35 points from 17 games.
