Manchester City have £369m weapon that will send shivers down spine of rivals

Last summer activity in the market had fallen 10% year on year, with more clubs preserving cash, especially in the Premier League where a number of sides had some reason to be concerned when it came to profit and sustainability rule (PSR) compliance.

Fast forward to the beginning of February and the closing of the European window was up 8% compared to the same time last year, according to data provided by analysts at Football Benchmark, with total spending standing at around €1.46billion (£1.22billion). Of that sum, Manchester City’s approach to the market played a significant role.

With a drop-off in form at the Etihad, with current Premier League champions City trailing league leaders Liverpool by 15 points and having played a game more, and with the club sitting outside the top four and having limped into the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League, City boss Pep Guardiola and the club felt compelled to accelerate the plans for a rebuild.

A mainstay of their success for so long, Kyle Walker departed for Italian giants AC Milan, while in came Omar Marmoush from Eintracht Frankfurt, Nico Gonzalez from Porto, Abdukodir Khusanov from RC Lens, Vitor Reis from Palmeiras, and Jumah Bah from Real Valladolid.

The age profile of the additions told its own story, with Marmoush at 25 the elder statesman of the new signings, a clear indication that this was a spending spree aimed at the future. But it was still an expensive one.

City spent around €218million (£182million) on new signings for the period, an amount that represented 45% of the Premier League’s total transfer spend for the January window, and 15% of the total spend of all European teams.

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