Pep Guardiola must solve a familiar transfer issue at Man City

As Manchester City rightly bask in the glory of their Treble, worries that unsettled some fans in January are now forgotten.

The Blues have finally clasped hands on the Champions League, retained the Premier League title for the third year in a row and beat Manchester United in an FA Cup final. But as the calendar ticks over into the second half of 2023, it’s easy to forget that the path to glory was rocky.

After a controversial loss to United at Old Trafford in January, City were five points behind Arsenal in the table and had been dumped out of the League Cup by Southampton, and faced Chelsea in the FA Cup third round. Then, 36 hours from the winter transfer window closing, Joao Cancelo completed a shock loan move to Bayern Munich. City were left without a top-class natural left-back with Sergio Gomez not trusted as a mainstay. February saw a loss to Tottenham and a draw with Nottingham Forest as Guardiola tried to tweak his system to compensate for Cancelo's exit.

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A 3-2-4-1 formation was implemented with John Stones discovering a new-found midfield role - they then went unbeaten until the final day loss to Brentford. Guardiola had the flexibility to adopt a back four if he wanted with either Mani Akanji or Nathan Ake moving to left-back as Kyle Walker came in on the right. It worked, and City have a cabinet full of silverware to show for it. However, Guardiola must continue to be active in the transfer market this summer if he wishes to retain that adaptability.

Cancelo is travelling back to the Etihad after Bayern Munich said no to a £61.6m buy-out. His future at the club looks bleak after Guardiola said he wouldn’t have cared if he had