Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, admits that he might have erred when he ordered the team to abandon its summer acquisition plans.
In an attempt to prevent their season from getting out of hand, City is anticipated to make a move this month.
They haven’t made a big January acquisition since Aymeric Laporte, who joined for £57 million from Athletic Bilbao in 2018.
Abdukodir Khusanov, a defender for Lens, is close to finalizing a £33.6 million transfer after City agreed to pay the Uzbek international.
Guardiola is reportedly interested in signing Vitor Reis, a teenage defender for Palmeiras, and Omar Marmoush, an attacker for Eintracht Frankfurt.
At the same time, veteran full-back Kyle Walker has been given permission to explore options around a move abroad.
“In the summer the club thought about it and I said ‘no, I don’t want to make any signings’,” said Guardiola on the eve of Tuesday’s Premier League game at Brentford.
“I relied a lot on these guys and thought I can do it again.
“But after the injuries – wow – maybe we should have done it.”
He maintains injuries are the main reason why his side has slipped to sixth in the Premier League, been eliminated from the EFL Cup and find themselves 22nd of 36 in the Champions League table and facing a battle just to secure a top 24 spot and place in the play-offs.
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According to Transfermarkt, City have had to deal with 15 injury-related absences of two weeks or more, the most damaging of which has ruled Ballon D’Or winner Rodri out for the season.
Defenders John Stones and Ruben Dias will both miss the Brentford game and Guardiola is still to decide whether Walker should be included.
We knew at the beginning of the season we will have a lot of players over 30,” he said.
“We knew sooner or later, we should do it. Step by step we had to change.
“But five or six months ago, they won the Premier League, four in a row, reached the FA Cup final and quarter-final of the Champions League. The amount of injuries we had, I didn’t expect it.”
