The Premier League title holders have been hit by injury problems and poor form as they trail leaders Liverpool by 12 points.
Manchester City must invest during the January transfer window due to injury problems and a poor Premier League campaign, manager Pep Guardiola has said, admitting it may have been a mistake to rule out summer signings.
“In the summer, the club thought about it [signings] and I said, ‘No, I don’t want to sign,'” Guardiola told reporters on Monday.
“I relied on those guys a lot and I thought I could do it again. But after the injuries maybe we should have done it.”
City’s title defense looks over after six league defeats have left them sixth in the table and 12 points behind leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
Guardiola’s team is missing Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, who ruptured knee ligaments in September, and defenders John Stones and Ruben Dias are also injured.
City have not made a significant January signing since Aymeric Laporte’s $69.67 million arrival from Athletic Bilbao in 2018.
Guardiola could not confirm whether an agreement had been reached to bring Lens defender Abdukodir Khusanov.
“The club has not announced anything. I don’t know,” he said.
“Rodri is impossible apart from those others [injured players] I want back. If that had happened, I wouldn’t have gone into the transfer window this season. Absolutely not.
“We wouldn’t be in the position we are in, but we’ve been fighting all season. It’s not just Rodri, we have a lot of problems in the back four. This is the reason why the club is thinking that we could make this transfer.”
After City’s 8-0 FA Cup win against Salford City on Saturday, Guardiola revealed that Walker had asked to leave the club, but the manager had no update on the situation and the right-back could be in the Brentford squad.
“There is no news. I won’t add anything, there is no more news. Brentford is the only thing on my mind,” Guardiola said.
