Manchester City are ready for a big transfer window with their midfield this summer, and they are not the only top club in this situation
Michael Carrick and Mikel Arteta(Image: Zohaib Alam – MUFC/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles. That’s the saying, and it is generally correct: Manchester City managed six more goals than Arsenal but conceded eight more as well that contributed to Mikel Arteta’s side taking the title.
What is criminally overlooked in the phrase though is how important the midfield is. City stormed to success under Pep Guardiola when they bossed the middle of the pitch with Fernandinho or Rodri supporting the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden, and most years when they didn’t win the title a lack of legs or energy in midfield was glaringly apparent.
It is set to be another big summer for the City midfield, with Bernardo Silva departing and doubts over the futures of Rodri and Nico Gonzalez. Elliot Anderson is City’s priority target but the Forest player won’t come cheap, and the Blues are looking at other targets anyway – including Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali – because of the potential need for multiple new players.
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Making that even more interesting and decisive is the fact that City are not the only big club making changes to their midfield this summer. Having won the title, Arsenal are interested in Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers as they look to build on their success.
Then there is Manchester United, who beat both City and Arsenal under Michael Carrick in January as the new manager rescued their season and earned them a third-placed finish. They are looking at Anderson as well but have also agreed a deal to sign Atalanta midfielder Ederson as they also look to sign more than one player for their engine room.
With recruitment playing such a big part in the success a team will have in a year before a ball has been kicked, it is not an exaggeration to say that whichever club has the best summer window in terms of the midfield they end up with are going to have an enormous advantage for next season. That isn’t to say it will be immediately apparent – Florian Wirtz was seen as a better pick than Rayan Cherki this time last summer – but the foundations will already be in place.
That piles the pressure on City’s sporting director Hugo Viana in a job where you are only as good as your last window. The squad has been transformed over the last 18 months but more is required to stay ahead of United and reel Arsenal back in.
It should, however, take some of the pressure off incoming manager Enzo Maresca as he steps into Pep Guardiola’s show. If City have already won the battle for the best midfield this summer, the new coach’s job becomes significantly easier.
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