Man City plot a transfer raid amid Kevin De Bruyne mystery, writes JACK GAUGHAN

Pep Guardiola smiled last week as he agreed Manchester City's Premier League rivals would laugh at their current demise.

And so it was no surprise to see him enjoying the six-finger wave to signify his title win at a baying Liverpool crowd who were mock-suggesting the City boss was ready to collect his P45.

City went to Anfield simply wanting to survive, and in the midst of this torrid run of seven without a win, a two-goal defeat on the country's toughest pitch made Guardiola look a little brighter.

“Call me delusional,” said the Catalan. 'But from now on I believe we will build up to winning games again.'

Their next game is a bit more forgiving, Nottingham Forest at home on Wednesday, but not without problems. The city has a lot of problems to solve and it's time to connect again.

If it's not Haaland, no one scores

A lot of attention was paid to City's line-up against Liverpool. Guardiola later referred to it and suggested his decision was not for everyone – which could be a window into advance discussions with the squad or whether he has gauged fan reactions online. Both things have happened before.

It was particularly notable when team news emerged that Erling Haaland, who scored 12 goals, was the only City player in the starting XI to have scored in the Premier League so far this season.

The only others were on the bench after recently returning from injury (Jeremy Doku), on a seemingly endless quest for fitness (Kevin De Bruyne), falling (Josko Gvardiol), or being injured again (John Stones and Mateo Kovacic ).

There is a feeling that if it isn't Haaland, it isn't anyone. Haaland has missed chances of late, particularly in the 4-0 defeat to Tottenham, but is still taking everything in his stride. Phil Foden, who has quietly battled fitness issues throughout the campaign, has yet to score.

This is all new for City, who have been top scorers in the league every year since Guardiola's first goal. Even in 2020, when they meekly surrendered to Liverpool, they finished with 102.

Only once have they failed to reach 90, when they dominated the division with false nines four seasons ago. Output will undoubtedly improve, but on current form – 22 from 13 games – City are on course to finish with 64.

They have lost each of their last five games on expected goals (xG) basis in all competitions and while Guardiola is not big on using statistics, that is a metric he does pay some attention to.

Blaming all this on Haaland would be too simplistic. The slump speaks to a team that is not functioning well further back, creating problems in their usually fluid build-up.

The passing lines have been few and far between for whatever reason. As we saw at Anfield, when nervous midfielders do, they take the easy options to try and stamp out mistakes. That is imposing instead of going for the pin.

De Bruyne's puzzling fitness problems

Clearly De Bruyne is the biggest risk-taker, and he has only really been in the mood since September, with 71 minutes of substitute appearances in the last five games. De Bruyne spoke candidly about his pelvic injury last week, describing it as the most frustrating he had ever encountered in his career.

He had been training at different intensity levels for weeks before the match against Tottenham, but only the day before did he no longer feel pain when hitting a ball. Since then, he has played more minutes off the bench, even if it looks strange at first glance.

“The De Bruyne thing is unusual and bizarre,” said Gary Neville, an expert. 'Why is the best player the Premier League has had in the last 10 years probably not there? We know he has injuries, but why isn't he there? He is a leader, he has authority, confidence and brilliance, so there is definitely something going on in the dressing room.” Jamie Carragher expressed similar thoughts.

It was interesting to watch the Belgian in the defeat to Sporting Lisbon last month when, having already lost the match, he became involved in a heated argument with a first-team coach.

The reporting surrounding De Bruyne lately has been consistent and in line with what the 33-year-old himself has said. At his age, he knows his body better than anyone and the idea of ​​Guardiola steadfastly refusing to start his best player in this form is ridiculous.

But it does raise questions about his future. The idea has always been that De Bruyne will be the master of his own destiny, as he is arguably the best player in the club's history – and certainly in the top three.

The Saudi Pro League made a big move last year that he was considering, and new MLS franchise San Diego is interested when his contract expires this summer.

Some big names, including Vincent Kompany, set their own end dates, while someone like David Silva saw the direction of the wind and mutually agreed to a farewell. Sergio Aguero wanted to stay before eventually leaving on a free transfer.

Rebuilding through the transfer market

Although he has a different profile to De Bruyne, 21-year-old Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen would represent the dream signing in attacking midfield, but the German will have all of Europe's top sides chasing his signature.

City now have the second-oldest squad in the Premier League and Guardiola last week mentioned the need for a 'rebuild', having previously emphasized that he does not see age as long as there are good performances.

Central midfield is a clear area of ​​concern following Rodri's double knee injury, with Real Sociedad's Martin Zubimendi, Atalanta's Ederson and Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton all mentioned as potential signings.

It feels like City have held back somewhat in the market in recent seasons and some supporters have criticized what they see as a lack of proactivity.

As of 2021, Josko Gvardiol is in the top nine most expensive transfers for just £77 million – which is striking given the rising fees globally.

City could reasonably argue that replacing some of the older guard has so far seemed like an exercise in waste without the right replacements available.

Now that has become a necessity – and Guardiola has publicly indicated he is the man to oversee it, having signed a two-year contract extension.

Another attacking option wouldn't be out of place following the record £81.5 million sale of Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid in August. Alvarez certainly wouldn't solve all of City's current problems – and wanted to play regularly – but he did contribute and offered Haaland some respite.

City have been consistently profitable in recent times – with late academy graduates Cole Palmer, Romeo Lavia and Liam Delap all impressing on the big stage – and that money will need to be put to good use.

Where do you find new motivation?

Guardiola worked exceptionally hard last season to eradicate any Treble hangover. He presented the players with a picture of a mountain to indicate that they were back at the bottom after their exploits and that there was more climbing to be done.

That was the moment when the four-in-a-row was on the line, a feat you suspect Guardiola will appreciate more than anything in his managerial career. The effort required to galvanize the group cannot be overstated. What was and is the end goal this time, the top? Five, for sure. But extending a record is not quite the same as breaking one.

City's players say the right things. Just before an apology, captain Kyle Walker posted on Instagram yesterday how they 'know that recent performances have not been up to the standard we expect'. He insisted that they would “get through this.”

It would be wrong to suggest that there is no struggle and accountability happening in that locker room. The proof of this has come over the past eight years. Subconscious drop-offs, however, are a little different and harder to respond to.

Externally, there may be those wondering how much of an impact the club's ongoing case with the Premier League could have – but realistically it's unlikely that the focus of a collection of footballers will be changed by legal arguments between lawsuits. Guardiola himself used the first attacks in 2023 to shake himself and the coaching staff up, rather than passing on that form of siege mentality to the team.

The defense went cold

A state of disorganization has engulfed City of late and the negative reaction to setbacks – something they suffered in the biggest games before the Treble season – has crept back in.

Ruben Dias' performances have not been perfect at the start of this season, but his re-emergence at Liverpool on Sunday should provide the backline with more stability going forward.

A calf injury saw him miss the second half of Tottenham's defeat in the Carabao Cup and then the losses to Bournemouth, Sporting, Brighton, Spurs at home and draw against Feyenoord. The last four of these all featured quick goals when City couldn't establish themselves. Guardiola's response to the latter was to drop Gvardiol and Ederson – neither will be on the sidelines for long.

Dias, part of the leadership group, was the one who gave the team speech at the pre-kick-off meeting at Anfield, ahead of Walker. And although teammates can ridicule Dias for motivating in clichés, the Portuguese has the courage to pull people along with him.

If, after their last defeat in fifth place, City go back to basics in their quest to arrest this decline, that is exactly what they need.