Guardiola Rules Out January Transfers For City

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola insists he will not be adding to his squad during the January transfer window.

The champions’ faltering start in the Premier League this season has led to speculation they may seek to address their defensive problems in next month’s transfer window.

The departure of Vincent Kompany at the end of last term and a serious injury to Aymeric Laporte has left City boss Guardiola short of specialist centre-backs.

Midfielder Fernandinho has been operating in the back four as a result but, with City having fallen 11 points behind leaders Liverpool, may need to strengthen to meet their ambitions.

Yet while Guardiola acknowledges a need to regenerate his squad, he is not intending to do it mid-season, and it will be the summer when City conduct all of their transfer business.

For now he is happy to go with what he has got for the rest of the season, even though Sergio Aguero also has an injury.

“I don’t want any players in January,” the former Barcelona boss said. “If we cannot do it in summer, we cannot do it in January.”

The chief reason for this is because Guardiola wants long-term solutions rather than short-term fixes, and January options are likely to be limited.

“When they come in January for the next four, five, six years maybe we could think about it, but that is not possible,” he added.

A refresh is likely in the summer, however, with one departure confirmed already as veteran David Silva moves on.

There is also uncertainty about the future of 34-year-old Fernandinho, who is out of contract at the end of the campaign.

Probably more important than signing new players, City fans will be hoping that Guardiola will still be at the club to carry out the process of reshaping the squad.

By the way he is talking at the moment, that certainly appears to be the plan.