Manchester City Transfer Round Up

And here we are, half way through January with Manchester City very quiet in the transfer market.

Pep Guardiola has been consistent in his press conferences at Manchester City for months: there is unlikely to be any major transfer business in the current window.

There are a number of reasons for that approach. Firstly, City can afford to be circumspect in every regard. This is a team which have dominated the domestic league for two seasons.

Secondly, this City side have suffered some clear issues so far this season, but crucially key players are nearing a return. Aymeric Laporte will hopefully feature for City before the month is out. And Leroy Sane should not be too far behind.

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Thirdly, the January transfer market is a seller’s paradise. Extortionate fees and player demands tend to mean it is a time of panic buys. It is where the badly run Clubs spend big.

Occasionally there are bargains to be had – like Aymeric- but these tend to be when a deal is set up and just brought forward. Menaingful business in this window for City would be similar – it would be a case of bringing in a signing early who was already agreed for Summer.

So, for fans fed a diet of daily sports rumours and used to the excesses of the transfer window in computer games, these moments can be dull. There is a little chance of a major last minute purchase.

Similarly, there are likely to be no January player exits. Our squad has been stretched through injury so far and will not be stretched further by us allowing players to move on.

So any player exits are likely to be players on the fringe. In fact, it is likely to involve players on the fringe of the fringe.

Hence why this week the only real story of any substance has involved a couple of City youngsters. The first of these is Ian Carl Poveda, a young winger who is out of contract next summer. So far he has a single first team appearance to his credit and has mainly paid his dues in the Under 23’s.

Apparently City are seeking a good exit for him and talks have been held with Celtic, Leeds United and Torino. It would appear the final destination is down to the player with any fee being small.

The second player linked with an exit is Jaden Braaf. Braaf is an exciting prospect of real talent but things are not going so well behind the scenes. There are rumours of a bad attitude and this is blocking his route to the first team.

Accordingly he seems to be agitating for a move and Borussia Dortmund appear poised. Whether City are actually prepared to deal at this point though appears unclear.

There have been other stories in the press. John Stones has been linked to a move to join Mikel Arteta at Arsenal. That seems wishful thinking on their part as there is no way we would countenance such a move unless we had a home grown replacement.

Joao Cancelo is busy being linked to everyone but that appears to be a clumsy attempt by his agents to get him noticed by Pep. We will not be agreeing a sale this window.

Finally there has been some talk of Bravo moving on – to the MLS. That may well happen but not now, we need him until the Summer when his contract ends.

Therefore, expect very little to change – instead focus on the excellent news on Laporte and Sane, and savour their returns which will be like having two new World Class players.