Manchester City's form and their well-documented injury crisis has highlighted the need for Pep Guardiola to delve into the January transfer market and strengthen his squad.
The Citizens have lost each of their last five matches across all competitions, including a heavy 4-0 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League last weekend, which has seen them fall eight points behind Liverpool at the top of the table.
Guardiola has been working with a depleted squad for several weeks and the most notable absentee has arguably been star midfielder and Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, who is ruled out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury that he sustained in September.
Fellow midfielder Mateo Kovacic is ruled out for between three weeks and a month with an unspecified injury, while Oscar Bobb (leg fracture) is also in the treatment room.
Meanwhile, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake, Kyle Walker, Kevin De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Savinho and Matheus Nunes have all been nursing some form of injury or illness issue this term and had to either play through the pain or frustratingly watch on from the sidelines.
Under Guardiola, Man City have rarely been active in the transfer market during the winter window; their two senior additions since 2016 have been Gabriel Jesus (£27m in 2017) and Aymeric Laporte (£57m in 2018).
However, many Citizens supporters, including Esteemed Kompany's Steven McInerney, feel that there is 'a real chronic need for a reboot', particularly in midfield where he thinks two additions should be made in the New Year.
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What are Man City's transfer priorities for January window?
Speaking to Sports Mole senior reporter Oliver Thomas, McInerney said: "I think the fact that Guardiola has signed a two-year extension is really reassuring for me. If we were going through this run of form right now and Pep was to be leaving, honestly, I'd be terrified.
"I do think, secretly, Pep probably knows the extent of the reboot. He's not going to say that publicly because he has nothing to gain from it, but I do really believe that Pep knows that this team needs some players."
McInerney has talked up the possibility of Man City signing Real Sociedad's in-demand midfielder Martin Zubimendi, who has regularly been linked with a move to the Etihad Stadium and other Premier League clubs including Arsenal and Liverpool, and is understood to possess a €60m (£50.1m) release clause in his contract.
Man City already have a Brazilian Ederson on their books, but another who plies his trade at Atalanta BC is someone who the Citizens are believed to have identified as a potential January target.
McInerney has also urged Man City to sign a "fantastic creative player", while he has shared his thoughts on whether the Citizens will push to recruit a new attacker to provide support for Erling Haaland - the club's only natural centre-forward following the club-record sale of Julian Alvarez last summer.
Guardiola's side were linked with a somewhat surprise move for Celtic's Kyogo Furuhashi last summer, but that transfer failed to materialise, while they have since been tipped to swoop for a number of other strikers including Liam Delap, who was sold to Ipswich Town less than six months ago and City are believed to have a buy-back clause for the 21-year-old.
Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion.
Oliver Thomas
