Manchester City got back to winning ways on Sunday, beating Leicester City 2-0 at the King Power.
Savinho, belatedly, opened his account for the club, on target in his 24th appearance in Sky Blue, before Erling Braut Haaland made the points secure in the East Midlands.
This though was just a second victory in 14 matches for the Citizens, moving the four-in-a-row champions back up to fifth, with Pep Guardiola himself admitting his team are “at risk” of missing out on next season’s Champions League.
With Guardiola having signed a new two-year extension back in November, Man City will need to undergo a major rebuild in 2025, so who will be top of incoming sporting director Hugo Viana’s wishlist?
Erling Braut Haaland's recent concerning form
After arriving from Borussia Dortmund, Haaland ripped up all the record books during his first two seasons at Manchester City.
Thus, despite the fact he’s currently the second-top scorer in the Premier League, behind only Mohamed Salah, this is considered a down-season for the Norwegian centre-forward, with the table below outlining why.
Statistic
22/23
23/24
24/25
Appearances
35
31
19
Minutes
2,769
2,552
1,709
Goals
36
27
14
Goals per 90
1.17
0.95
0.74
Goals – xG
+7.6
-2.2
-0.8
Shots
116
113
77
Shots per 90
3.77
3.99
4.06
During his debut campaign, Haaland broke the single-season scoring record, netting 36 times, while his goals – xG figure of +7.6 made him the second-most clinical forward in the division, although he’s currently performing below his expected goals figure, having more shots-per-90 than ever before this season, with these yielding fewer goals.
So, could a high-profile edition help get Haaland back to his best?
How Jamal Musiala would improve Manchester City
As reported by Caught Offside earlier this week, Manchester City are interested in signing Bayern Munich superstar Jamal Musiala, with Real Madrid, Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain also interested in securing his services.
The 21-year-old is being targeted as a potential replacement for Kevin De Bruyne, whose contract expires next summer, although the Bavarian giants are currently negotiating a new contract with Musiala, hoping to tie down their most prized asset until 2029.
That aforementioned report claims Musiala is valued at €180m (around £149m), which would more than treble Bayern Munich’s record departure, selling Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona in 2022 and Matthijs de Ligt to Manchester United last summer, both for €50m (£42m).
Meantime, this would also smash Man City’s transfer record, the £100m splashed on Jack Grealish in 2021.
So, would Musiala be worth this heavy investment? If anyone is, it’s got to be him.
Germany’s all-time most-capped player Lothar Matthäus compared his compatriot to Lionel Messi, exclaiming his delight that the “best player from the young English generation” chose to represent die Mannschaft.
“When he is on the field, this is like Messi three years ago. He has everything. Fast, good dribbling, the last pass, he can score. He gets the ball and always goes forward — like me, against Yugoslavia.
“He is also learning to work better for the defence. He is becoming the complete player. In the future, he will be one of the very best players in the world.”
Back in September 2022, during a UEFA Nations League fixture at Wembley, Musiala was in the very unique position of being booed by opposition fans due to the fact that he was facing his former nation; he previously represented England at youth level.
For his national team of choice, Musiala has scored seven senior goals to date, on target against Scotland, Hungary and Denmark during Euro 2024.
For Bayern Munich meantime, the youngster has a more than impressive 14 goals to his name already this season, coming in just 22 outings, breaking the deadlock inside 30 seconds as the Bundesliga leaders smashed RB Leipzig 5-1 in the final fixture before the winterpause.
Having scored 16 and 12 goals across the previous two seasons, it’s easy to see why Martin Rogers of Fox Sports has described Musiala as one of the best players on the planet, so it would be quite the coup if Man City were able to secure his signature.
Indeed, it would also prove fruitful for that man Haaland, with the German superstar possessing that innate creative touch having laid on six ‘big chances’ in the Bundesliga this season. Such creativity is being lapped up by teammate Harry Kane at Bayern, with the England skipper – who has 11 joint goal contributions with Musiala – describing his club colleague as “fantastic to play with”.
Transfer Focus
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The playmaker’s desire to wreak havoc in the final third – as shown by the fact that he ranks in the top 4% in Europe for touches in the attacking penalty area – could help to drag City closer to the opposition goal, thus enhancing the opportunity for Haaland score.
Such a youthful combination could certainly be tantalising one at the Etihad, if this marquee deal can be pulled off.
Man City now eyeing move to sign Gundogan-like midfielder ahead of Arsenal
He’s one for the future…
1 ByTom CunninghamDec 29, 2024
