In the last month or so, Man City have kept themselves out of the heavy-spending frenzy that has thrust the other big 6 clubs into the major headlines. Tottenham, Arsenal, Man United, Liverpool and Chelsea have all been extremely busy in the time since the Club World Cup and uncharacteristically, it’s the citizens who have been recently lurking in the shadows of the transfer world.

But when you consider the amount of business that has been conducted at the Etihad since the turn of the new year, is it really that surprising that City have been quiet as of late? Omar Marmoush, Ncio Gonzalez, Juma Bah, Abdukodir Khusanov, Victor Reis - all signed in January 2025 for well over £200 million. Add to that the recent signings of the Rayan’s, (Cherki and Ait-Nouri) Tijjani Reijnders, Sverre Nypan and the re-signing of James Trafford and you basically have a complete squad overhaul that’s been completed in the space of 2 windows.

The effects of this mini-rebuild were obvious in the second half of 2025 as Pep and Manchester City were the best performing team in the Premier League from January onwards - even without their star striker Haaland for the majority of this period. The reason I’m emphasising the transfer business that has been done in the last 6-8 months is because Pep Guardiola has a proven track record in football that when he’s backed financially, the results often end in trophies.

Say what you want about the Spanish manager, 13 league titles in 16 years speaks for itself. And the only times he didn’t win the league? 2016/17 entering a new league with a mis-matched squad not ready for Pep football, 2019/20 an unprecedented season in which the City squad was decimated by injuries and last year, where City’s ageing squad were no longer able to compete physically at the highest level and were dampened by a lack of investment that summer.

I’m not trying to say that City have spent heaps of money so will definitely win the league, but I’m confident they’ll most certainly be challenging for most of it and that’s mainly down to the best league manager in the history of the sport being at the helm of this new-and-improved squad.

So what can we expect from Pep’s City this time round?

I think the short answer to that is goals. Last year, the loss of Rodri accompanied by the fact that City’s midfield was too old and leggy to compete with a very transitional and physical landscape of the Premier League, meant that City often found it hard to dominate games. Often having a lot of the ball but not really being able to cause much threat with it, whilst also being very susceptible on the counter-attack.

The turning point was in January when Pep realised that City themselves had to go more transitional and the utilisation of flying full-backs such as Nico O’Reilly and Matheus Nunes were introduced and more direct football built around Omar Marmoush and De Bruyne’s strengths, became the regularity.

But now, with these new signings - Pep has the players at his disposal to dominate the ball and cause the opposition real trouble. The appointment of Pep Ljinders as assistant coach will also ensure that City are able to match the physical intensity laid out by their competitors. The former Liverpool coach was one of the main aesthetics in their heavy-metal style during the glory days of the Klopp era and was famed for his running drills during pre-season that left Liverpool players vomiting at the end of training sessions, but also made them the hardest runners in the league - expect City to face a similar fate.

*Image of Pep Ljinders via @AnfieldSector on X*

The return of Rodri can’t be underestimated for the importance it has on this City team. Let’s not forget that City’s fall off last season basically started when he went down holding his knee against Arsenal. The best and most important midfielder in the world, if the Spaniard is able to come back at least 75% of the player he was before the ACL injury, Man City will be a force to stop. On the ball and off the ball he contributes so many things that are invaluable to Pep’s team and so it’s no surprise that without him, they were unrecognisable.

City’s array of attacking options might be the best in the league. They boast an arsenal of players such as Foden, Haaland, Marmoush, Bobb, Cherki, Doku, Savinho and McAtee - all good enough to win football games on their own and so having all of them at your disposal will cause a lot of headaches for Guardiola that he might not mind having.

The signings of Cherki, Ait-Nouri and Reijnders will not only make City more vertical and fluid in possession, it will also go a long way to getting the best out of Man City’s goal-getters. Haaland, Marmoush and Foden must be laughing at the service they’re bound to get across the 25/26 campaign. Accompanied by Bobb, Savinho and Doku, the amount of chances laid on a plate for City’s forwards will be crazy - I won’t be surprised if we see another history-breaking year for Haaland and Foden’s numbers return to close to their 23/24 Player of the year campaign.

So the midfield and attack has been seriously revamped and look as complete as they can really get. The one question that remains is if the defence is of league-winning standard. With Stones’ injury woes only getting worse and Akanji’s form being way below the level for months now, one could argue that there are holes in City’s backline. This is before you even consider that Ait-Nouri’s defensive ability is highly questionable and right-backs Rico Lewis and Matheus Nunes have hardly been famed for their off-ball-ability during their career.

I’m sure in Pep’s ideal world, a complete right-back such as Tino Livramento is signed, but this looks highly unlikely at the time of writing. He might just have to make do with the £400 million defence that’s been accrued in the last 6 years or so. In order for City’s defence to be of the standard, you’d think that Gvardiol must operate fully as a centre-back this season instead of the winger/full-back hybrid he was used in over half of 24/25. His defensive and physical attributes make him the ideal candidate for being Pep’s main centre-back over the course of the rest of his tenure and the on-ball rashness that was on display last season, will eventually be erased out.

I have questions over the likes of Ruben Dias, Ake and Akanji and fear their best days might be behind them. This means that Abdokodir Khusanov might have a large role to play for the 8-time Premier League winners. It’s a weird one that he just faded into obscurity in the latter stages of 24/25 considering he’d impressed heavily after his disastrous debut against Chelsea. His roaring pace and calmness on the ball had a lot of fans believing they were watching the perfect modern centre-back on his way to becoming a household name at the Etihad. But strangely, Pep stopped playing the Uzbekistan international and for the last 2 months of the season we barely saw him step on the pitch. A freak athlete who can do the business at centre-back or right back, as the physical capacity of the old guard diminishes - Khusanov should be ready to take their place almost instantly.

If a back 2 of Gvardiol and Khusanov is deployed at some point over next season, although it might be lacking in experience, the sheer amount of talent and way their profiles compliment each other make me believe you’ll be looking at Man City’s centre-back partnership for the next half decade.

Trafford will also provide necessary competition to Ederson who hasn’t looked at his best for a while now and will likely be off in the summer of 2026. There’s a chance he can become City’s number 1 as early as this season if the Brazilian’s form continues to dwindle.

So City have spent a lot of money once again and it’s slightly going under the radar because most business was concluded prior to the Club World Cup. Two of the best players in the world in Haaland and Rodri will be back and if you sprinkle in a bit of Cherki and Reijnders magic to the mix, you have the recipe for something special. Guardiola will have a point to prove that he’s still the boss of this league and I look forward to seeing the next tactical innovations he has in store for us. The constant rhetoric that his ‘robotic’ football inhibits players’ growth will be ended this season as Cherki, Doku and co. will form an attack that I would consider on par with Liverpool’s - even with the addition of Isak. Yes there’s defensive concerns, but you’d trust in a manager like Pep to make sure his sides’ weaknesses are accounted for and that their strengths soar.

Once again, Man City look like they might be the tempo-setters for this next Premier League season.

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