Why Man City are like a jam donut and five signings that can help

Man City’s loss to PSG in the Champions League has once again laid bare their flaws.

Their form had picked up recently (unbeaten in six with four wins) but Wednesday’s Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain has revealed the core flaw of Pep Guardiola’s Man City side.

Ultimately, they’re soft.

They’re soft all over the team, really. At no point during Wednesday’s showdown did they really get to grips with the ferocity of PSG’s pressing and physicality (they were just lucky that, for an hour, PSG didn’t seem capable of actually playing too much football, or this could have been a historic thrashing).

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So City are soft, but they’re specially soft through the heart of the team. The ease with which PSG were able to manouver through the middle of Man City, both in terms of the centre-backs but, especially as it pertains to Bradley Barcola’s go-ahead goal, in defensive midfield was so ridiculous.

City are soft all over but positively gooey in the middle. They’re basically a jam donut. Except they’re not delicious or beloved by all.

So in an attempt to address their confectionary-esque conundrum, the Sky Blues have spent a lot of money so far in January to bolster their squad.

New City signings

They just signed superstar forward Omar Marmoush to join the centre-backs Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov, both side earlier in the month. They’ve also been linked with Juventus full-back Andrea Cambiaso, who would likely fill the void created by Kyle Walker’s impending departure.

But none of those men address the key issue plaguing the squad since Ballon d’Or winner Rodri got injured in the Autumn. The gooey Man City midfield!

Mateo Kovacic has been tasked with filling Rodri’s boots but he couldn’t fill a jam donut even after comprehensive confectionary classes.

Man City need to make a fourth (or fifth) signing in January, and it has to be a defensive midfielder to shore them up in midfield and prevent them getting deep-fried by every opponent who has mastered the art of running in a straight line through the middle of the pitch.

Here are five players they should consider:

Martin Zubimendi

When you dream, dream big.

Rodri had to leave the final of Euro 2024 at half-time having picked up an injury. Martin Zubimendi replaced him and Spain barely missed a beat.

How Man City would love to have not missed a beat with Rodri out.

Well, they can if they sign Zubimendi!

The Basque midfielder has up to now steadfastly refused to leave his beloved Real Sociedad, rebuffing Barcelona, Arsenal and Liverpool.

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But rumour has it he is now open to the potential of leaving and would prefer a move outside Spain so he wouldn’t have to face La Real as much/if at all.

So… what are you waiting for City? Pay whatever it takes and get the man!

Zubimendi can run the midfield in Rodri’s absence and when the big man returns you’ve got yourself an incredible double pivot as close as any club side is going to get to recreating the obscenity that was Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012.

Ederson

Given Pep Guardiola’s recent comments about how football isn’t “positional” anymore but rather more physical and direct, maybe the kind of defensive midfielder they need is someone who can be physical and direct?

In that case there’s no one quite like Atalanta’s Ederson. The Brazilian is an engine of pressing and physicality and would massively help shore up the City backline against the kind of aggressive and direct play which has hitherto been their undoing.

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Angelo Stiller

Ederson has plenty of eyes and attention on him, so City may want to look elsewhere. How about Angelo Stiller at Stuttgart? The German defensive midfielder is a rising star said to be attracting the attention of the likes of Liverpool.

Stiller is a player of great physical and technical quality, he would bring an assurance to the City midfield that they have been sorely lacking since the Rodri injury.

Carlos Baleba

Perhaps a move for Ederson could be considered risky, and difficult as Atalanta would be unlikely to desire a sale in the middle of the season when they’re fighting for Serie A and to go far in the Champions League. And Stuttgart would be reticent to lose Stiller for similar reasons.

So why not turn attention to the Premier League and Carlos Baleba? The 20 year-old Cameroon international isn’t playing in Europe so a January move seems much more feasible. Baleba’s star is rising fast and honestly even waiting until the summer could see his price jump but several million.

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Douglas Luiz

If City want to sign someone but don’t want to spend much money then the cheap option is Douglas Luiz at Juventus. The Brazilian has had a rough time of it in Serie A and doesn’t seem part of Thiago Motta’s plans.

While it hasn’t worked out for him in Italy, there’s no doubting Douglas Luiz’s quality. He was rock solid for Aston Villa for half a decade.

And, of course, he’s technically been a Man City player already! City signed Douglas Luiz in 2017 right at the start of the Guardiola era, but when City tried to bring him in a year later he was denied a work permit so got sent back out on loan again.

A year hence when he would have finally expected to join City, Pep had already moved on to Rodri, who was signed that summer. So Douglas Luiz joined Aston Villa and the rest is history, but now would be the Brazilian’s chance to finally shine for Pep Guardiola.