Pep Guardiola priority for Man City in January transfer window is clear

"It doesn’t matter."

What Manchester City need in the January transfer window has become an increasingly popular topic of conversation since the form of the team fell off a cliff, and Pep Guardiola himself has admitted they need bodies in a depleted squad. But the January window has always been difficult to do business in and is even harder this year, so if the manager could pick one position to strengthen which would he be?

It could have been a way into where Guardiola thinks the squad needs most work, but those three words that he began his answer with told their own story. City's coach is less bothered about who is coming in as he is about those who are already here.

It is the current group that occupy his mind every day: how does he get more out of them? How does he return them to their previous standards? What isn't working that used to work and how can he change that to get the team back to winning ways?

There is still a belief from Guardiola that he can, that a team who lifted their fourth consecutive league title in May and were top of the table as late as November can challenge for trophies again without major surgery. That isn't to rule out improvements, but the focus is on the mass of players who are underperforming rather than anyone that can come in to punish that.

"What I want is the players are fit, get the best level of them, because I said to them many times that I know their level," said Guardiola. "I was there with them every three days for eight years and I know their level. We need that level and we haven’t had that level. That’s why it’s important they are fit.

"And after that if there is a market where one player can help us… we’ve had a lot of injuries. Again and again. It’s why we have to take a