Struggling an notorious Champions League collapse in opposition to Feyenoord earlier within the week, Manchester Metropolis discover themselves on the coronary heart of an notorious rut.
Marking their return from November’s worldwide break with a woeful 4-0 drumming at house in opposition to Tottenham, Pep Guardiola’s defending champions have damaged a string of undesirable information over the previous month.
Now sat eight factors adrift of Liverpool and dealing with an actual uphill battle within the race to defend their Premier League crown, the Sky Blues have additionally collected only a single level from any of their earlier six appearances throughout all competitions.
Displaying a string of points on both aspect of November’s fortnight interval, there has additionally been loads of scrutiny over Metropolis’s ageing squad.
With the January switch window quick approaching on the horizon, now we have taken a take a look at a number of the European celebrity who’re reportedly topping Guardiola’s wishlist.
Florian Wirtz – Bayer Leverkusen
Spearheading Bayer Leverkusen’s cost to a maiden Bundesliga crown final season, Florian Wirtz has loved a mesmeric rise to superstardom over the previous 18 months.
Topped Germany’s Participant of the Yr again in Might and with many tipping the 21-year-old as a future Ballon d’Or contender, Wirtz is now broadly considered one in every of Europe’s hottest younger superstars.
Recording 22 Bundesliga aim contributions final season and that includes for Germany on the European Championship’s over the summer time, Leverkusen’s academy graduate finds his stick at a red-hot excessive.
Regardless of continued hypothesis over curiosity from reigning European champions Actual Madrid, TEAMtalk reported earlier within the month that Guardiola’s aspect are sat within the driving seat to gather what could be an enormous scalp.
With that very same report suggesting that Bayer Leverkusen could be prepared to simply accept a payment in extra of £90million, Metropolis have already tentatively reached out to the reigning German champions over a possible January deal.
With Kevin De Bruyne’s contract on the Etihad set to run out this summer time and neither half exhibiting that an extension is shut, Wirtz would definitely be seen as a dream long-term substitute for Metropolis’s record-breaking midfield talisman.
Martin Zubimendi – Actual Sociedad
On the coronary heart of an actual switch saga over the summer time, it appeared nearly sure that Martin Zubimendi was set to finish a blockbuster transfer to Liverpool.
Nevertheless, with the Spanish worldwide having a late change of coronary heart, the Actual Sociedad ace ultimately determined to remain put at his boyhood membership and reject a transfer to the Premier League giants.
Though the 25-year-old might need made it clear that he wished to remain in Basque Nation a number of months in the past, it has been advised that Zubimendi is regretting his determination.
With Sociedad struggling to seek out any actual stability this season, the EURO 24 winner is reportedly eager on pushing by a Premier League change when the January switch window opens up.
With Manchester Metropolis reportedly a long-time admirer of the Sociedad ace, The Every day Mail advised earlier within the week that Guardiola has recognized Zubimendi has his dream Rodri substitute.
Adam Wharton – Crystal Palace
Whereas Adam Wharton might need solely arrived at Crystal Palace earlier within the yr following a reported £22million take care of Blackburn, the 20-year-old has loved a sensational begin to life amongst England’s elite.
Shortly rising as one in every of England’s hottest younger commodities, Wharton made such an impression in the course of the early months of his tenure in south London that he was a shock together with in Gareth Southgate’s EURO 24 squad.
Whereas the previous Blackburn starlet may be at the moment coping with a hamstring damage, he has continued to obtain a string of reward and is attracting loads of heavyweight consideration.
Gaining a popularity for his potential to interrupt up play and management the tempo of a sport from the center of the park, Wharton seems to have a string of admirers from throughout Metropolis’s hierarchy.
With The Every day Mail reporting that Guardiola us an enormous fan of the 20-year-old, it has been advised that Crystal Palace could be a reluctant vendor if a hefty provide got here their approach in the course of the January switch window.
