Your Man City gossip round-uppublished at 18:03 19 January18:03 19 January We're over halfway through the January transfer window, so here's your latest round-up of the best Manchester City transfer gossip to drop: Show
How are you feeling about City's January transfer window so far? Let us know here. You can also get all the best transfer chat via our gossip columnhereand track every done deal throughout Januaryhere. Catch up with all the latest transfer news by tuning into BBC Radio 5 Live'sTransfer Gossip Dailypodcast on BBC Sounds. 'Every foundation, every part of the puzzle, is working to be the best'published at 13:01 18 January13:01 18 JanuaryManchester City's success is down to much more than Pep Guardiola, according to former defender Micah Richards. He says there's a plan to keep the success, through succession - from the top to the touchline. "Txiki [Begiristain] and Ferran [Soriano] have done an amazing job, marshalled by Khaldoon [Al Mubarak]," said Richards on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club. "It's inspirational what they've actually done," he added. "Even if they change the manager, they still want to do the same things. The Manchester City strategy is still the same no matter what." Admitting that they've had it good under Guardiola, Richards says they may not dominate quite in the same way but the trophies will still come in. "You might not get as good because we are talking about one of the best managers ever to grace football. You might have to go down but the priorities of which they want to play football still stays the same. And if he was to leave that could change, of course it could change." Richards says Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United may come back into the frame season after season but City's desire to be the benchmark means they won't fade away. "Liverpool might go for it, Man United might get back to their best in a couple years and they're still a big club, things might change, they might get a manager. But at this moment every foundation, every part of the puzzle is working to be, or if not, the best." Tuesday talking point: City flying high off the pitch as well as on itpublished at 12:09 18 January12:09 18 JanuaryNigel Rothband, The Man City Show, external This weekend, on the pitch, City beat Chelsea to move 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League, with a goal difference of 41. Last week, off the pitch, City Football Group reported strong financial results, with revenues at £569m for the year to 30 June 2021 (exceeding their local rivals for the first time) and returning to profitability. This reflects their great success on the field. A fantastic report, especially given very low gate receipts and operations generally facing Covid challenges. Citys net player spend was £86m (yes a big sum, but lower than many rivals - Chelseas net spend was £171m, for example). In a busy transfer window, City bought current player of the year Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake and Ferran Torres, while selling Angelino, Leroy Sane and NicolasOtamendi. Torres, of course, was recently sold to Barcelona at a healthy profit. City'sglobal presence has continued to expand, supported by Carabao Cup and league success last term, and the boost from the first Champions league final in May. Commercial revenues rose with the addition of new partners and renewals of long term partnerships and with the return of full stadiums, gate receipts will recover strongly in 2021-22. All in all a very impressive showing both on and off the pitch and further evidence that City deserve to be considered as one of the top five clubs in the world just now. Two City players make Garth's team of the weekpublished at 11:04 18 January11:04 18 JanuaryManchester City saw off Chelsea 1-0 in a massive title race match, earning Kevin de Bruyne and Raheem Sterling places in Garth's team of the week. Kevin de Bruyne:Four goals in his last five appearances against Chelsea should have been enough warning for Thiago Silva to have closed De Bruyne down and not allow him a free shot at goal. At this point in the match there was precious little difference between the teams and for my money a draw would have been a very fair result. Raheem Sterling: Sterling looked sharp against Chelsea in that role and looks like he's coming into some form again. Read what else Garth had to say about De Bruyne and Sterling, plus find out who else made his team of the week 'This squad is being elevated by the most unbelievable coach in the world'published at 10:41 18 January10:41 18 JanuaryDespite Manchester City's dominance, the Premier League isn't becoming uncompetitive, according to the Athletic's Adam Crafton. After 22 games, City are 11 points clear and look unstoppable as they go for another title. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club, Crafton said: "I dont believe that the Premier League is becoming uncompetitive. "City are pulling away but when you look at the quality of how Liverpool play, Chelsea, the resources that Manchester United have wasted, even what Tottenham have spent to a certain extent. "Looking through what a normal Man City team would be, its players from Benfica, Spurs, Everton, Athletic Bilbao, Shakhtar Donetsk, Wolfsburg, Leicester, Aston Villa. Its not like theyre going out and buying Manchester Uniteds best players, Chelseas best players, Bayern Munichs, Barcelonas, Real Madrids. "I think this squad is being elevated by the most unbelievable coach in the world at the moment. "I dont think Manchester City are uncatchable as a club. I think Manchester City as a team under Pep Guardiola are currently uncatchable. Thats a testament to him and the structure they have built around him." Hear more on City's dominance from 24'35 on BBC Sounds Boring, boring City?published at 09:29 18 January09:29 18 JanuaryMike Minay, BBC Radio Manchester I'll try and keep this short, but it's a big question at the moment. Are Manchester City boring? If you want high intensity, fully charged football then you're not going to get that from City. Even the manager Pep Guardiola has acknowledged this himself. That's Liverpool's domain. Because City don't have the players to play that way, they have to use a different approach. Guardiola's side doesn't do passing for passing's sake. It all goes back to Pep's philosophy. You cannot win games if you do not have the ball. We all want to win games, City are doing just that. So it is jealousy? I also don't think the 'boring' tag is helped by the way other teams approach a game. Chelsea a prime example. By sitting in deep, restricting access to the18-yard box, camping in your own half - of course it's going to be hard to break down and will be a battle of attrition. City will pass and look to find the gap, find the space, find the moment. The likes of Aston Villa, Wolves, and Brighton have come to the Etihad and tried to get 80 minutes at 1-0 or 0-0. Then they may go for it. That's 80 minutes of City working hard to find a way through. It's not boring though. I'll admit, I didn't enjoy the first half of City v Chelsea on Saturday. My summariser Nigel Gleghorn did. He loved the tactical element of it. Then there's the money aspect. Are City boring just because they can spend big? Chelsea and Manchester United have thrown cash around in the summer too. Yet City are winning games. Winning isn't boring. 12 Premier League wins in a row have been a privilege to commentate on. Dias and De Bruyne voted into team of the year at Best Fifa awardspublished at 19:22 17 January19:22 17 JanuaryManchester City's Ruben Dias and Kevin de Bruyne have been named in the men's team of the year at the Best Fifa awards. The XI was voted for by 19,000 male professional footballers and Dias described it as a "sign of respect". "I need to say thank you to everyone who has voted for me and for everyone else," added the centre-back. Midfielder De Bruyne praised his team for helping him "become the best player that I can be". Its always nice to be recognised as a player and also to have some of my team-mates in there. It means that we did well as individuals, but also as a team." Skip twitter post
End of twitter post De Bruyne 'turns up' against the best teamspublished at 11:04 17 January11:04 17 JanuaryKevin de Bruyne is "the guy who turns up against the top teams" according to EA Sports presenter Nubaid Haroon after the Belgian's strike settled Saturday's top-of-the-table match with Chelsea. De Bruyne curled home a sensational winner in the latter stages to settle a tight game and deal a hefty blow to their title rivals. "He loves a big game," Haroon told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast. "You know if it's a day when you need someone to turn up, he will be the guy who does. "He has an incredible record against Chelsea." De Bruyne has scored five goals against his former club as well as five against Arsenal and former Leeds defender Alex Bruce says he is an incredible role model. "The likes of Mason Greenwood, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford should all be looking at him," Bruce said. "He's the ultimate professional, keeps doing it season after season and his dedication gets him what he deserves." Listen to full analysis of City's victory on BBC Sounds De Bruyne back to his best as City charge onpublished at 09:38 17 January09:38 17 JanuaryMike Minay, BBC Radio Manchester Step one: Evade a challenge from N'Golo Kante. Step two: Use Foden's dummy run to create space and make the goalkeeper think. Step three: Unleash a brilliant bending shot into the far corner. It was Kevin De Bruyne showing that, after injury and Covid, he's back to his best. He'll get the headlines because it was his goal, but the work-rate of the team was phenomenal. Rodri and Bernardo in particular, who marshalled the midfield, made decisive tackles and interceptions and controlled the play. Sterling too on the right. But I have to admit I was disappointed in Chelsea. Yes, for them it was 'must not lose' but that shouldn't have meant that they sat deep in the first half. They showed in the second half they could be a threat and nearly took the lead from Romelu Lukaku. They could have equalised immediately after De Bruyne's goal too if it wasn't for a great block by Aymeric Laporte. When it comes to the title race, it's not quite one hand on the trophy, but a couple of fingers for Manchester City. For Chelsea, 13 points behind, you have to say that's it. So what can Liverpool offer? The three horse race is down to two. If they fluff their lines, City can go solo. Man City 1-0 Chelsea: The pick of the statspublished at 08:30 17 January08:30 17 January
City's quality shines through even against the toughest opponentspublished at 07:07 17 January07:07 17 JanuaryPhil McNulty, BBC Sport Manchester Citys 12th successive Premier League win was another illustration of the ability to get the job done in difficult circumstances. They battled against poor form to win with a last-minute goal by Rodri at Arsenal but against Chelsea it was done against a high quality, well-organised opponent determined to make life difficult for them. And the key to Citys success is having players who can make that decisive difference to decide tight games in this case it was Kevin de Bruyne. There is a quite simply a rich seam of quality that runs through Pep Guardiolas squad that enables them to get over the line when the going gets tough and this win gives them a 13-point lead in the title race that increases the impression that they will eventually be runaway winners. On another day, when it is not De Bruyne, it will be someone else and that is why City are huge favourites to retain their crown. |
