Pep Guardiola ‘demands’ three huge January transfers to stop Man City rot with dream Liverpool target wanted

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reportedly wants to ‘aggressively’ attack the transfer market in January by signing three huge names to stop their malaise from setting in and in a bid to keep the Cityzens in the hunt for major honours over the second half of the season.

The four-time reigning champions have fallen off their throne in quite spectacular ways in recent ways, having failed to win in seven games. After going into Tuesday night’s Champions League game against Feyenoord off the back of an unprecedented five straight defeats in all competitions, Manchester City arguably hit a new low against the Eredivisie side when they allowed a 3-0 lead to slip over the last 16 minutes, becoming the first side in UCL history to fail to win from a three-goal advantage at such a stage in a contest.

And things are threatening to get worse before they get better with a trip to in-form Liverpool next on the horizon and with a defeat there leaving them 11 points adrift of the Merseysiders at this stage of the season already.

To that end, Roy Keane has already explained why their Premier League title hopes will be over if they suffer defeat at Anfield.

Now in a desperate attempt to stop the rot from running any deeper, a report from Spain claims Guardiola has ‘demanded’ City sign Martin Zubimendi, Maximiliano Araujo and Florian Wirtz to give their side a much-needed peppering of quality.

Zubimendi has a €60m exit clause in his deal, while Araujo’s buy-out at Sporting is set at €80m. Meanwhile, any move for Wirtz would set City back €120m, with deals for all three costing an eye-watering €260m (£217m, $275m).

The report in Fichajes claims Guardiola is  ‘calling for signings’ and their ‘absolute priority’ is to sign a centre midfielder to replace Rodri, who looks set to miss the remainder of the season through an ACL injury.

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With the loss of Rodri seen as the key factor behind their current struggles, Guardiola is ready to make a huge push to try to bring Zubimendi to the Etihad, seeing his signing as crucial to helping an upturn in results and with their ongoing ‘crisis’ having ‘set off alarm bells at the club’.

The report claims City are now planning ‘willing to make a significant offer to close the deal’ and beat Liverpool to his signing. The Reds came within a whisker of signing Zubimendi over the summer, only for the Euro 2024 winner to change his mind and opt to remain with boyhood club Real Sociedad.

However, with his €60m (£50m, $63.3m) clause still active, there has been growing speculation that Zubimendi now regrets his decision to turn down the move and is now open to a move in the winter window.

That talk gathered pace this week amid a new claim that stated Liverpool were ready to reactive their interest in the player and were now ‘roaring towards’ his signing.

Zubimendi himself has not addressed the latest speculation but did state last month that he does not look back in anger at rejecting the Merseysiders.

“Of course, I don’t regret it, I can’t think that after four or five games at the start of the season. I made my decision from within,” the player told Noticias di Gipuzkoa.

“I thought it was the best thing to do, the results don’t affect me. I see potential in this team, you just have to watch us train and I’m excited about having a good season.”

As far as Wirtz and Araujo are concerned, the report in Fichajes claims the City board are ‘willing to back their manager’ to ‘turn around their poor form’ and see both stars as key additions to their attack, adding another quality option both to their wings and attacking midfield area.

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Meanwhile, sources have informed our reporter of the colossal fee it would take to secure the signing of Atalanta midfielder Ederson during the January window amid reports the Blues are keen on the Brazilian.

The midfielder is regarded by Guardiola as another option to step into their midfield, but he would come with a sizeable price and with a summer deal seen as far more viable by the Serie A title chasers.

Elsewhere, City have reportedly declined the opportunity to bring Liam Delap back to the Etihad in the January window.

The 21-year-old failed to make the grade at City and was allowed to move to Ipswich over the summer, where he has since made quite the name for himself in Kieran McKenna’s side. But while City have a buy-back clause in his deal, they are not looking to bring him back – giving one of their Premier League rivals hope of a big-money swoop on the Tractor Boys.

Elsewhere, City are edging closer to tying Erling Haaland down to a bumper new contract which could see Real Madrid switch focus to another lethal striker, according to reports.

And finally, City are said to be on a collision course with James McAtee, with the midfielder desperate to get more minutes under his belt and reported to be pushing for a move away in the January window.

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