Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola he potentially has to oversee more business in the January transfer window than he would have expected before the start of the season.
The citizens were almost forced due to their poor form on the field in the previous part of the season, and the club is currently in sixth place in Premier League after six defeats in 20 matches.
Apparently they are set to complete signing RC Lens central defender Abdukodir Khusanov as the first addition of the January window to bolster their options in the center of defence.
Apparently they are also champions of the Premier League getting closer to an agreement to sign Eintracht Frankfurt striker Omar Marmoush this week, as they also look to add to their attacking unit before the end of the window.
But this month is not all about new deals for City, as long-serving right-back Kyle Walker is also on course to move away from the Etihad on a permanent deal.
The Italian giant AC Milan is set up for conversations around a deal to take over the England international, who also has interest from Saudi Arabia, and that could take a large sum out of the club’s weekly wages.
Why Kyle Walker should be sold
The former Tottenham Hotspur defender, who joined City in the summer of 2017, is said to be earning a weekly wage of £175k a weekwhich equates to approximately £9m per season.
He reportedly earns more than Ederson, Savinho, Nathan Ake and Mateo Kovacic, among others, and his performances on the pitch this season have not supported the finances involved in keeping him.
Walker has made 15 appearances in the Premier League this season, he started nine times, and struggled in defence. He dribbled him 12 times and made only 17 tackles, which shows that it was too easy for opposing wings to beat him in one-on-one situations.
As you can see in the Sky Sports image above, Manchester City have been significantly better without the England veteran in their squad in all competitions this season, winning more often and conceding far less.
This suggests that Guardiola is right to approve the departure of the experienced right-back as he does not provide enough on the pitch to justify his salary.
However, he is not the only high-paid player the Cityzens should consider moving for in the January transfer window, as there is also speculation surrounding the future of Kevin de Bruyne.
The latest on Kevin de Bruyne’s future
At the beginning of this month, Football Insider reported that Manchester City will not stand in the way of the Belgian international if he wants to leave the club at the end of the season.
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His current deal at the Etihad is set to expire in the summer and he can negotiate pre-contract deals with other clubs this month before leaving on a free transfer ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.
The report adds that teams in MLS and Saudi Arabia are interested in swooping for the midfielder, while de Bruyne is said to prefer a move to America at the moment.
There was no mention, however, of whether any of the interested clubs would be willing to pay a fee to sign him five months early, so that City would be compensated for his services and could receive his wages from their accounts sooner than expected.
De Bruyne is reportedly the highest earner in the Manchester City squad £400k a weekeven more than Erling Haaland at £375k-a-week, meaning the Citizens could save themselves a small fortune by selling him this month, rather than waiting for him to leave for nothing in the summer.
The MLS season starts next month and that could tempt any interested parties from that league to be willing to pay now to sign him three or four months earlier than they would otherwise be able to.
Why should Guardiola leave De Bruyne?
As De Bruyne has been great over the years for Man City, with 104 goals and 172 assists in 400 appearances in all competitions, the Belgian star has been plagued by injuries in recent seasons.
Since the start of the 2023/24 campaign, the 33-year-old star has missed out an incredible 51 games through injury, after only a midfielder missed 15 games in the two seasons before that together.
This means the midfield maestro has been consistently unavailable for Guardiola’s selection at key periods over the past 18 months, which could also be why they are willing to let him leave on a free transfer in the summer.
De Bruyne, who has been described as “world class” player. Gary Neville in 2023, did not offer enough on the field – as is the case with Walker – to justify his sky-high wages.
|
24/25 Premier League |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Appearances |
13 |
20 |
|
Objectives |
2 |
16 |
|
Conversion rate |
7% |
20% |
|
Assists |
3 |
1 |
|
Duel success rate |
34% |
44% |
|
Statistics via Sofascore |
||
As you can see in the table above, Haaland, who earns less than the Belgian in wages, has been significantly better in the Premier League this season, both in terms of his availability and his performance in the final third.
There’s no denying that de Bruyne is a City legend, as evidenced by his incredible stats during his time at the club, but Guardiola is set to ruthlessly cut him from the squad this month due to MLS interest.
Allowing the Belgian hero to move on in January, while saving huge amounts of money on wages, would also free up Marmoush, who scored 14 goals and registered seven assists, arrived and felt like the main man in the attacking midfield positions, rather than being in de Bruyne’s shadow for the first five months.
Therefore, there are plenty of reasons why Man City leaving the former Chelsea and Wolfsburg star in the January transfer window could make a lot of sense for the club.
