Pep Guardiola claims Manchester City may have to break their usual rule of not doing business in January as injury problems continue.
The new year offers clubs the opportunity to hunt for new recruits and the crisis at Etihad, which has seen them win just one of their last 11 games, means the champions may need to bring in new faces if they are to salvage their season.
January can often result in inflated prices and Guardiola and City have tried to avoid mid-season recruitment. Aymeric Laporte, a club record signing at the time, is the only player they pursued in January, proving there is success to be had.
Despite Guardiola typically focusing on football and not transfers in the first month of the year, he admits they could change their approach with Rodri out for a long period of time and their defense disrupted by constant injuries.
The City boss said: “Teams don't sell, maybe it should be players who don't play. They don't want to sell and they are so expensive. It depends on the market and we'll see. It's simple: get players back. Except Rodri. We got the team there and then maybe we got the team that we were. We couldn't solve it.
“We talked about doing something and if it's in winter then it's whether we really need it or can we really find something. Not for just four or five months. In winter it's harder to do it .We will do it.” to see.
“I don't know how many times we have been to the winter (market) – maybe only Aymeric Laporte seven years ago. We're not big fans of that, but the circumstances of this season were special.
“We have to see if something is possible and if not, we will wait until the summer: how we finish the season, how the players perform, knowing that we have short holidays. We will talk and see what is possible in the coming period.” market.”
Guardiola is confident he has a squad capable of challenging for glory if he has all his players available. City currently sit nine points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, with their Champions League hopes hanging in the balance with two games remaining.
Real Sociedad's Martin Zubimendi, who was on Liverpool's radar last summer, and Newcastle star Bruno Guimarães are among others on their radar.
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