Matheus Nunes change, Arsenal battle, Stephen Mfuni - Man City questions answered

This week's Q&A takes a look at Manchester City's plans for the summer transfer window with the transformation of the squad set to continue.

Manchester City head into Sunday's Carabao Cup final with Arsenal on the back of a damaging couple of weeks. Apart from booking their place in the FA Cup quarter-finals, there have been two Premier League draws and two Champions League defeats.

Pep Guardiola's side had a go at overturning a 3-0 deficit against Real Madrid but a red card for Bernardo Silva effectively ended the tie after 20 minutes at the Etihad and they eventually lost 2-1 on the night. There is no room to rest though, with the squad needing to lift themselves for a cup final with Arsenal at the weekend. With so much going on at the club, we'll be hosting weekly Q&A sessions with our chief City writer Simon Bajkowski.

The day of the week it comes out on may change depending on what City's schedule looks like, but essentially this is your chance to get an answer on anything you want - simply pop your question here at any time of the week and Simon will pick them all up and wrap everything up in one place.

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This week we are looking at the state of the squad, the difference in Matheus Nunes this season and some of the youngsters that could be pushing for a place in the group in the future.

Hi Simon. Matheus Nunes has missed seven matches in the Premier League and Champions League this season, and City lost to Real Madrid, Bodø/Glimt, Manchester United, Bayer Leverkusen, and Tottenham in those games (2W 5L). Has Matheus Nunes now become an irreplaceable player in big matches? And what has caused such a dramatic turnaround in his City career? TJ Lee

Hi TJ, there have been a few questions about Nunes in recent weeks and he unexpectedly became a major talking point when he was left out at the Bernabeu. You're right - it is a remarkable rise in reputation for a City career that risked at one point going the way of Kalvin Phillips.

I'd say one of the biggest reasons for the transformation has been a change in attitude, which has helped application. Even at the start of the season Nunes wasn't fully sold on the idea of being a right-back and it played out that way last term with lapses. Nico O'Reilly has spoken of how difficult a process it can be to play there having been in central midfield before.

Nunes now happily says that he gets it, and playing more and more in a Guardiola team he understands more and more what is needed. His win record is helped by the fact that generally if he is playing it means City are playing a team with a packed midfield and full-backs for width, which tends to lead to a good performance and result.

I'm not sure he is irreplaceable yet because there are other options, but it is safe to say that he is the first choice right-back and that his performances this season have eased the urgency to go out and spend big money on a right-back in the summer market. They may of course still bring one in, but it doesn't necessarily have to be a nailed-on starter now.

The squad is simply not good enough. Especially with no top level fullbacks and midfielders. Sorry, but the recruitment is abysmal and players like Savinho, Ait-Nouri or ageing players are simply not good enough. The defence lacks height and athleticism as well. This team is OK, but to compete for top four, not for being champions. It's years of bizarre decisions on the market that brought City to this state. JM

Ah, but maybe Nunes is part of the problem! Although I would say he adds height and athleticism to the defence. Rayan Ait-Nouri has been very good in recent months as well in my opinion, including in the second leg against Real Madrid, and however frustrating Savinho can be he was instrumental in the FA Cup win at Newcastle.

JM has hit upon one of the central arguments between supporters: how good has recruitment been since 2023 and is this team actually good enough to challenge for the Premier League? I think it is and I still don't think Arsenal are over the line yet this year, with more improvement to come from City next season after radically bringing down the age of the squad.

That may not end up being the case, and if 90 points is needed next year then that may change expectations for the team. I really don't think they are far away though and, more importantly, neither does Guardiola.

City should learned how Arsenal uses the same players weèk after weeks and they are doing fine. Why City could not do the same. Johnson

A couple of points on this one, Johnson. City's strongest points this season have been when they have used the same players week after week - it happened around November and December and then again in January and February.

City should technically have got stronger with everyone back in March but it hasn't happened like that, in no small part because those players that have so much football in their legs are not in top shape and those coming in aren't in enough rhythm to contribute.

I'd argue Arsenal haven't been using the same players every week, they have been able to rotate and when you see Eberechi Eze giving them an advantage with a crucial Champions League goal that is the kind of contribution that City haven't had enough of. Arsenal have scored so many goals from substitutes this season while City haven't managed one since the opening day.

Are we finally able to admit out loud that giving Dias the extension was a huge mistake on board's side and knowing he will get the armband next season we will just continue to suffer. Marc

Call me naive but I really do not get the anger towards Dias that a very passionate minority appear to have. Dias' extension had been coming for a while and is the natural outcome of a player who continues to be a key member of the team and the dressing room.

It wasn't so long ago that Dias and Josko Gvardiol looked a winning partnership before Gvardiol's injury, and while Dias has been ropey at times in recent weeks so too has January signing Marc Guehi so it isn't like everybody else is outperforming him. Guardiola has Abdukodir Khusanov to use and the Uzbek should get more game time going forward, but when he is fit Dias is still one of the best around.

Hello, Simon! At the moment, perhaps the two most talented footballers of this academy generation, Divine Mukasa and Stephen Mfuni, are out on loan. My question is: are either of them part of the club’s plans for next season, or should we expect another loan spell? Is the club keeping an eye on their progress in the Championship? Ulugbek

Hi Ulugbek, I think plans for these two will depend on how the rest of the season and the summer goes. Mfuni posted a picture of crutches after suffering an ankle injury at the weekend that will rule him out of the rest of the season, so depending on how much of the summer he misses staying in Manchester my end up more likely than a loan - at least for the first part of the season.

Mukasa has impressed at Leicester and with the taste of senior football will want to carry that on; a look at a club chasing Championship promotion or even some top-flight football will be the ambition, but he will also consider if he can fit into the City squad for next season.

Guardiola is a big fan of both players, but the club aren't keeping as many of their top youngsters close to the first team squad as they used to as they now prefer to send them out on loans.