Pep Guardiola tells Manchester City how many new signings he wants in January

Manchester City have received a clear demand from manager Pep Guardiola ahead of the upcoming January transfer window, according to reports.

The Catalan head coach is enduring the worst run of form in his Etihad Stadium career to date, losing eight matches in his last 11 matches across all competitions, including calamitous results against Tottenham, Feyenoord, and Manchester United in particular.

Those results and just the one win in that time has seen Manchester City exit the Carabao Cup at the fourth round stage, drop down to 5th position in the Premier League table, and languish in 22nd in the UEFA Champions League, putting them at risk of a league phase exit.

Much of Manchester City’s problems have been down to serious personnel issues throughout the squad this season, with widespread injury problems hampering positions particularly in defence.

And as such, in an attempt to rescue the campaign and ensure that City secure UEFA Champions League football for the 2025/26 season at a very minimum, Pep Guardiola is demanding action from his hierarchy next month.

That is according to the information of Manchester City insider ‘Tolmie’s Hairdoo’ on X, who reports that the City manager has told the club he would like two new midfielders to join his roster in the upcoming transfer window – the same message from the Catalan last summer.

It is revealed that all of Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes, Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz, Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton, and Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi are all in the frame, while the latter would be the easiest to do ‘quickly’ with a release clause in his current deal.

Bayern Munich then takes centre stage in the report, with Jamal Musiala labelled as Pep Guardiola’s ‘dream signing’, whilst Joshua Kimmich is said to be open to leaving the Allianz Arena in January.

Manchester City’s midfield took it’s first major hit of the season when Rodri sustained a double knee injury during the 2-2 draw with Arsenal in the Premier League earlier in the campaign, before tired legs have cost Guardiola’s performances.

Mateo Kovacic made it two defensive midfielders out at a single time for Manchester City when he picked up a problem during the November international break with Croatia, forcing the club to utilise Ilkay Gundogan and Rico Lewis in the role with little success.

Those problems coupled with the significantly depleted rearguard within the squad have made selections extremely difficult for Pep Guardiola, and as such have sparked urgent demands over changes to be made at the earliest opportunity through squad investment.