Manchester City had seen subtle, scattered success before the arrival of Pep Guardiola at the famed Etihad Stadium. The Barcelona veteran joined as manager and coach in 2016, with the club recognising his ability to make the most out of the current squad, even in the absence of any Manchester City transfers. Man City transfer moves such as Ilkay Gundogan, Leroy Sane, and Gabriel Jesus have laid down strong technical foundations for the team, with Manchester City signings also closing in on the deal for a secure goalkeeper, Ederson, at £35m. The manager also enforced shrewd Man City transfers of important player profiles in their almost decade-long dominance in the Premier League, namely Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva and Aymeric Laporte.
Txiki Begiristain served as the co-mastermind, along with Pep Guardiola, to realise these Man City transfers. The Centurion season of Manchester City is considered the gold standard in comparing Premier League campaigns. The fans and the competitors of the club would have hoped for a drop off after the Manchester Blues centurion season, where they achieved the legendary feat of 100 Premier League points, promoted by the new Manchester City signings, powered by Kyle Walker's pace, Ederson's perfect distribution and Bernardo Silva's intelligence and reading of the game. This carefully crafted transfer strategy means that flops are an exception with Manchester City transfers, the only ones out of the top of the head are Claudio Bravo and João Cancelo, but both have shown brilliant initial promise and have subsequently gone on to become world beaters; thus, the talent is definitely there.
Manchester City transfers this season need to address the absences of three main squad members:
Kevin De Bruyne has been the backbone of Guardiola's side for as long as anyone can remember. Essentially a creative playmaker, he has provided an all-phase attacking style unparalleled in the English Premier League. The Impact of the midfield maestro was such that Man City transfers have sought to replace him with the two-pronged duo of Rayan Cherki and Reijnders to match the overall coverage. This position is now adequately bolstered with the signings of Claudio Eccheverri and Omar Marmoush, both adept at manoeuvring in tight spaces.
The departure of Kyle Walker and João Cancelo has left the Man City boss severely understaffed in these key positions. Pep's previous experimentation with inverted full-backs has also diminished, so the signing of Rayan Ait Nouri from Wolves is a perfect Man City transfer, especially considering his prowess in progressing play.
With Ederson entering the dawn of his prime years and Steffan Ortega's future looking away from Man City, this transfer window demanded a prolific young goalkeeper as a Man City signing, as an understudy to the first-choice Brazilian. Pep Guardiola again came out with the best option in signings back James Trafford, who had an incredible season at Burnley. The goalkeeper was previously on City's payroll and has truly come of age at Burnley. The youngster has already exhibited keen reflexes, a deft touch and an exemplary reading of the game that is extremely necessary for becoming a “Sweeper” keeper, essential to City's style of play.