Pep Guardiola casts doubt on Manchester City’s January transfer window plans despite recent flurry of rumours | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been keen to issue doubt over whether the club have the ability to recruit prominently in the ongoing transfer window.

The Premier League champions and the number of players reliably linked with a move to the club has intensified over the last 24 hours, with star performers from Italy, Germany, and France all tipped to be of interest to the side.

It remains to be seen whether Manchester City will look to progress their interest any further through formal conversations and bids, although there is certainly cash available to the club as illustrated through their latest round of financial reports.

Pep Guardiola has openly discussed his desire for the club to strengthen his options during the winter market, with his first-team roster heavily impacted by injuries throughout the course of the season so far.

However, there is a realisation that matters are certainly more complex midway through the season than the summer when it comes to doing business, and City often stay away from the January window due to the complications that come with negotiating in such a short period.

Speaking during his latest address to the media this week, ahead of Manchester City’s meeting with West Ham United in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, Pep Guardiola was unable to offer any clarity over whether the club will be able to recruit new names this month.

“I don’t know right now. It’s not easy, it will not be easy. Maybe we’ll sign, or maybe we don’t sign anyone. So I think the club has to be wise, don’t do it for doing it, just to add players,” Guardiola explained.

The Catalan continued, “Of course for the situation that we have and from the perspective of the players that have had consistent injuries for many, many, many times, of course the club has to do it. But I don’t know if it will be possible.”

The latest comments come off the back of a flurry of new reports regarding Manchester City’s January activity, with it being claimed that the club are eyeing a double swoop for both Eintracht Frankfurt’s Omar Marmoush and Atalanta’s Ederson.

It is claimed that both players are valued in the £50 million bracket, and manager Pep Guardiola feels as though the Brazilian midfielder would add midfield steel, while a separate report revealed their interest in RC Lens centre-back, Abdukodir Khusanov.

But when it comes to the subject of outgoings, despite some first-team stars underperforming this season, it has been further reported that City want to keep ‘the nucleus’ of Guardiola’s team together.