Three glaring issues Man City must solve in January

Football FanCast

By Bill Smith

Published Dec 22, 2016

Manchester City have some first-team issues that can be solved in the coming January transfer window, and here are three priorities for Pep Guardiola.

We're now approaching the halfway stage of the Premier League season and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola can be quietly confident regarding his side's chances of claiming a third Premier League title in five years.

Nonetheless, before Guardiola can consider domestic honours, he must fix some glaring issues that continue to halt the progression of his City side.

The Citizens faithful have been crying out for the Spaniard to make significant changes to this ageing side before the gap between themselves and Chelsea at the business end of the table widens further.

Not only are City sitting pretty in the league, but they have also managed to qualify for the last 16 in the Champions where they will take on AS Monaco for a place in the quarter-final.

For Guardiola to ensure the club's progression continues, he must overcome these THREE issues next month when the transfer window will be wide open...

Fill the void left by Ilkay Gundogan

Last week when Manchester City confirmed the loss of Ilkay Gundogan for the remainder of the season through a knee injury, and many City supporters have since feared for the club's chances of claiming success.

Nonetheless, with the January window fast approaching, a potential injury couldn't have come at a better time in terms of finding a replacement.

In September, BILD reported Man City's interest in Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud, and the club's hierarchy should seriously consider a winter move for the Syrian-born midfielder.

Find a worthy centre-back pairing

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For the past four years, City have struggled to find a centre-back pairing capable of taking the team towards the level of football greatly desired by the club's owners.

Not since the days of Joleon Lescott and Vincent Kompany have City's centre-backs looked like being Premier League-winning quality.

Since 2009, City have spent £177million on central-defenders to partner Vincent Kompany yet the struggles have continued since 2012's league title success.

Overcome the ageing full-back issue

In the summer of 2017, Guardiola has three of his four regular full-backs out of contract with their deals set to expire.

The Spaniard must now find replacements suitable of coming in for Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna, and Pablo Zabaleta and very soon.

In fact, the four players are regularly at fault for many of the goals conceded by City and unless Guardiola combats the issue, the team's chances of achieving success may be diminished.