Khaldoon Al Mubarak has offered supporters some hints as to what they can expect when he comes to the club’s upcoming summer transfer window and their planned activity.
Etihad officials enter the 2024 edition of the summer market off the back of yet more unprecedented success, after Pep Guardiola and his latest group of players became the first side in English football history to win four consecutive top-flight titles.
As such, a number of the club’s recruits won their first-ever Premier League titles in the process having joined Manchester City during a somewhat transformational window in 2023, including the likes of Josko Gvardiol and Jeremy Doku, both of whom starred in the club’s run -in.
But with plenty of uncertainty surrounding several first-team squad members in the lead-up to the reopening of the transfer window, many are wondering whether it will be another window of significant change for Manchester City.
Concerns over whether Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne will remain at the Etihad Stadium amid interest from Barcelona and Saudi Arabia respectively are likely to lead the club towards the midfield market, and with varying levels of investment depending on desired player profile.
Speaking during his annual end-of-season interview, Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has pointed towards a number of hints that could offer supporters some insight as to what they can expect from the club in the coming months.
“We are very careful in keeping that squad always fresh, with a mixture of new players coming in, players I think leaving at the right time, and then a boost from the academy,” Al Mubarak explained. “That tells you everything, we always maintain that balance.”
In the lead up to the opening of the market next month, a number of sources have already begun speculating the names and profiles of potential Manchester City recruits, with one deal having already been scuppered by a Football Association Investigation.
That concerned West Ham and Brazil international playmaker Lucas Paqueta, who was charged by the FA for breaching their gambling rulebook, while the emergence of the investigation also put Manchester City interest on hold towards the end of last summer, too.
With the 26-year-old out of the picture for Etihad Stadium officials, recruitment chiefs are likely to turn to Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes among other targets, while there has been tenuous discussion over Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala and Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz for future summer windows.
On the subject of outgoings, the most likely departures from Manchester City are likely to include Kalvin Phillips and Joao Cancelo, both of whom are out-of-favor under Pep Guardiola for varying reasons and for different periods of time.
