After four consecutive titles, Manchester City’s stranglehold over the Premier League looks to be coming to an end this season with the champions currently 12 points off the pace.
Problems have continued to mount with questions over how off the field events may be impacting on the field matters.
Reports emerged at the start of this week that Pep Guardiola is to divorce from his partner of 30 years Cristina Serra, having lived in different cities for five years and suggestions over the manager’s self-absorption with his work.
The developments came just days after Guardiola had announced club captain Kyle Walker had asked to leave the club, with the revelation coming amid ongoing turmoil in the long-serving full back’s personal life.
With two senior figures in Man City’s domination in the headlines off the pitch and their form on it remaining patchy, it is clearly the weakest the club have been in quite some time.
Yet Man City have responded in January with a staggering show of strength, with the Abu Dhabi-backed club flexing their financial muscles again to remind their rivals the loosening of their stranglehold will only be temporary.
Erling Haaland has committed his future to Man City until 2034 by signing a lucrative contract
Haaland’s new contract is a show of strength amid mounting problems for Pep Guardiola’s side
Guardiola and club captain Kyle Walker’s personal lives have been in the spotlight, while the reigning Premier League champions have endured a difficult season and lie sixth in the table
The biggest demonstration came on Friday morning with the news that Erling Haaland has signed a staggering contract extension.
The nine-year deal has seen Haaland commit to the club until 2034, while the removal of two release clauses appears to have seen Man City ward off the threat of the forward’s long-term suitors Real Madrid.
Haaland’s latest deal is understood to be one of the most lucrative in sporting history, with the 24-year-old seeing a bump in his current £400,000-a-week wages.
The pay packet, combined with the mind-boggling length of the deal, has seen the Premier League champions commit at least £200million to Haaland alone.
Tying down a player who has scored 111 goals in 126 games for the club, winning consecutive Premier League golden boots in the process, is undoubtedly a major boost for Man City.
Equally, you can imagine the sighs from Man City’s Premier League rivals, who might have been hoping Haaland would one day turn his attentions to adding La Liga to his growing trophy cabinet.
Haaland highlighted a desire to turn things around for Man City among the driving factors, with the forward set to be their figurehead moving forwards for the next decade.
‘I am really confident that we will turn things around,’ said Haaland, who is just two goals behind Mohamed Salah in the golden boot race this season.
Haaland’s new contract is expected to be worth in excess of £200million over its duration
Man City have secured the future of the Norwegian star despite long-term interest from Spain
Renewing Haaland’s deal can be seen as a show of strength despite Man City’s struggles
‘Things have been difficult as we are so used to winning games, but also it is a challenge for us. To get this feeling of hunger inside every single one of us to not look at things easier. Don’t take things for granted, that is an important thing.’
It is not just renewing Haaland’s deal that has seen Man City send a warning sign to their rivals.
Guardiola’s side is set to be strengthened significantly in the transfer market in January, a rare occurrence during his reign.
Since Guardiola took charge in 2016, the Cityzens have only directly moved to strengthen the first team squad in January on two occasions.
Gabriel Jesus joined in January 2017 for £27m and came straight into the squad, while Aymeric Laporte arrived in for a then-club record £57m the following year.
Since then, deals for young talents have been agreed in January, most notably Julian Alvarez’s signing in 2022, before he officially joined in the summer.
Yet, this January, Man City are poised to make multiple additions in the window as the club moves to fix some of the problem areas in Guardiola’s squad.
On Thursday, Man City reached a verbal agreement with Eintracht Frankfurt to sign forward Omar Marmoush. The champions had already agreed personal terms with Marmoush and now look to seal his £67million move.
Man City are closing on signing Eintracht Frankfurt forward Omar Marmoush for £67million
City are expected to get deals over the line for Abdukodir Khusanov (left) and Vitor Reis (right)
Mail Sport exclusively revealed Man City’s interest in the Egyptian international last month.
The move for the 25-year-old, the second-top scorer in the Bundesliga with 15 goals, comes as Man City aim to alleviate the burden on Haaland.
It comes as a sign of Man City’s desperation to turn their season around that they had originally hope to complete a £40m deal for Marmoush, but have instead agreed to pay a premium to prize him away from Frankfurt mid-season.
Marmoush is expected to be one of three arrivals, with the club pushing for two defensive reinforcements.
Man City are expected to complete a £33.5m signing of wonderkid Uzbek centre-back Abdukodir Khusanov from Lens this week, and have reached a £29.4m agreement with Palmeiras to sign centre-half Vitor Reis.
Both are expected to go straight into the Man City first-team squad as club seek to inject new life into the team and their season.
Should the deals go through, Man City’s spend in the window would reach around £103m, while the club are understood to also be in the market to strengthen in midfield.
The outlay would rank second in Premier League history for the biggest January spend by a club, beaten only by Chelsea’s eye-watering £323m splurge two years ago.
It would mark another clear indication that Man City are prepared to throw money to solve their current problems to return to the top.
Pep Guardiola was left with a number of cuts and marks after Man City’s draw with Feyenoord and later clarified comments made in a press conference referencing self harm
Reports emerged this week that Guardiola and his wife Cristina Serra are separating after 30 years
Walker has endured a miserable season and has asked to ‘explore options to play abroad’
The club would have hoped Guardiola’s decision to extend his contract in November would have sparked an upturn in their form, having fallen of the pace at the top.
Instead, the 53-year-old has appeared to show the strain more that at any point of his managerial career. Guardiola most notably generated concern after appearing with scratches on his face following a match against Feyenoord in November.
‘Yes, it’s from my nail on my finger,’ Guardiola replied when asked about the cuts after City threw away a 3-0 lead to draw. ‘I cut myself with my fingernail (during the game).
He then stated as he left his press conference ‘I want to harm myself’, before quickly issuing an apology for the statement on social media.
‘I was caught off guard with a question at the end of a press conference last night about a scratch which had appeared on my face and explained that a sharp fingernail had accidentally caused this,’ Guardiola wrote on social media.
‘My answer was in no way intended to make light of the very serious issue of self harm.’
Guardiola, amid reports of his separation from his wife Serra this week, also appeared frustrated by questions surrounding club captain Walker this week.
Walker has asked to ‘explore options to play abroad’, with both Milan clubs emerging as strong contenders for his signature. His decline this season has also come while issues in his wider private life have been played out in the public domain as he battles to save his marriage to Annie Kilner.
Walker is facing issues in his private life as he battles to save his marriage to Annie Kilner
Kilner filed for divorce in October, although reports said she may be having second thoughts
Walker’s decision comes with his marital issues having been well-documented in recent times
Along with his four children with Annie, Walker also has two kids with Lauryn Goodman
Walker’s marital issues have been well-documented in recent times, with Kilner having served the 34-year-old with divorce papers in October.
She also kicked him out of the family property after she discovered he had secretly fathered a second child with his ex Lauryn Goodman, 33.
However, Mail Online reported last week that Kilman, who was pregnant with their fourth child when Goodman dropped the bombshell, is now having second thoughts about their split and is ‘quietly working on her relationship with Walker behind the scenes’.
This comes after it was also reported that Walker is keen to stay in Europe with any future move for his family and to save his marriage to Kilner.
Walker was not part of City’s matchday squad for their 2-2 draw with Brentford on Tuesday and Guardiola admitted that he had not yet decided if his captain would play for the club again.
Mail Sport reported on Thursday that Man City could splash the cash again as they look to move on from Walker, with £55m-rated Juventus star Andrea Cambiaso targeted as a possible successor.
Cambiaso has mainly been fielded in a left back role for the Old Lady, though he is capable of playing on the right side of defence as well as in more attacking positions on that flank.
The wider refresh comes with several key members of Man City’s Treble-winning side approaching the end of their careers.
Long-serving stars including Kevin De Bruyne are approaching the end of their City careers
Man City have struggled to replace Rodri following the midfielder’s ACL injury in September
Jack Grealish is currently out of the side and enduring his worst spell since joining Man City
Walker is among the veterans of the City squad at 34, while Kevin De Bruyne will be the same age at the end of the current campaign. Long-serving players including Ederson, John Stones and Bernardo Silva are also in their early 30s.
The squad refresh is also an admission several recent signings have not made the grade, with Kalvin Phillips again shipped out on loan this campaign and Mathues Nunes failing to have the desired impact.
At 34, Ilkay Gundogan was only a stop-gap solution for the champions, who have struggled to maintain their usual control of matches following the ACL injury suffered by Ballon d’Or winner Rodri earlier this season.
Concerns have also been expressed over Jack Grealish’s future, who appears to be at his lowest ebb at the Etihad, with Guardiola admitting he needs to get back to being the player that helped the club win the Treble.
With long-standing squad members appearing to be nearing their end of their time at the club and Guardiola’s contract extension only taking him until 2027, Haaland’s long-term deal confirms the forward’s status as one of the central figures of the next era at the club.
Outgoing director of football Txiki Begiristain appeared to make a reference to this when citing Haaland’s age as he backed him to leave an ‘incredible legacy’ at the club.
Outgoing director of football Txiki Begiristain has backed Haaland to leave an ‘incredible legacy’ at the club
Haaland’s new deal will be the forward become a central figurehead in Man City’s evolution
‘The fact he is signed for so long demonstrates our commitment to him as a player and his love of this club,’ Begiristain said.
‘He has made an incredible impact already in his time here and his amazing numbers and records speak for themselves.
‘But in addition to his outstanding natural talent and ability, Erling’s dedication, professionalism, humility and desire to keep getting better sum up what we all strive to achieve at Manchester City.
‘He is one of the finest strikers in world football, but Erling is still very young and will only continue to improve working under Pep and his coaching team. If he works hard, which I know he will, he will create an incredible legacy at this football club.’
