One year ago today, Manchester City surprised their ecstatic fans by announcing not one, but three new signings.
Erling Haaland, Stefan Ortega, and Julian Alvarez were all introduced at a gathering outside the Colin Bell stand, and Kalvin Phillips would have been there had he not been sick. Julian Alvarez was technically a January buy, but this was validation of his first team status. Txiki Begiristain made sure the majority of City’s incomings were completed early by announcing a deal for Haaland even before the season had ended.
Mateo Kovacic, a former Chelsea midfielder, would be the only new face if they had staged a similar welcome this year, with the exception of an academy custodian. Where are City are with their transfer intentions compared to prior years, given that RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol hasn’t shown any signs of visiting the practice facility yet?
It is obvious that the move to sign four first-team players, including the highly sought-after Haaland, last summer was extremely successful. But the search for a left-back dragged on interminably throughout the summer, and it wasn’t until the first weekend of the season that a decision was made to keep Sergio Gomez rather than loan him out. Manu Akanji was another tardy arrival; he was signed in the final week of the transfer window and went on to play a crucial part in the Treble-winning campaign.
The day before the Community Shield in August 2021, Jack Grealish was signed for a cool £100 million after returning to Aston Villa to start his preseason while waiting for a deal to be finalized. While Nathan Ake and Ferran Torres were signed early in the 2020 summer transfer window, it took City a 5-2 demolition of Leicester at home in their third game of the season before they decided to choose a central defender and make Ruben Dias their record acquisition.
2019 was another year with a lot of early business. After being unsuccessful the previous summer, Pep Guardiola finally found a midfielder to take over for Fernandinho. Rodri was the headline acquisition, and Zack Steffen and Angelino were also added.
Even though passing on a deal for Harry Maguire now seems wise, there was more disappointment later in the window because the Blues’ inability to find a replacement for Vincent Kompany made that season the only one in the past six in which they failed to win the Premier League. Joao Cancelo missed the preseason tour but made it in time for the season to try to strengthen a defense that had appeared vulnerable, with Danilo travelling in the opposite direction.
The 2018 tour featured Riyad Mahrez, who arrived on time from Leicester and was one of the few first-team players attending considering that the World Cup was in progress (Algeria hadn’t qualified). Though the Jorginho saga persisted during that month, City ultimately decided not to make a move after being outbid by Chelsea.
After Guardiola’s debut season in English football, it was obvious that a change needed to be made, therefore the recruitment staff moved quickly to sign Ederson, Bernardo Silva, and Danilo. The negotiations over full-backs, though, took longer to resolve; Benjamin Mendy arrived at the end of July during City’s tour of the United States, after Kyle Walker had just boarded the aircraft; and Aymeric Laporte was a rare January purchase six months later.
In June 2016, Ilkay Gundogan was the first player Guardiola brought in, and Nolito arrived a month later in time for the tour. Leroy Sane and John Stones would not join until August, and by the time Claudio Bravo did, City had already lost four games as the manager had harshly opted to end Joe Hart’s tenure in the starting lineup.
When reviewing the seven summer transfer windows that Guardiola spent at the club, it is clear that several important players were brought in at the beginning, with Gundogan and Haaland sticking out. But it is also common to encounter them at this point in the summer with the majority of their labor unfinished.
This summer, when the club is waiting on outgoings and the number of incomings is still to be determined, it feels like that is especially crucial. The success City has had during this time suggests that not having significant signings in place by this point does not prevent them from winning many titles.