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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about the club's stance in the January window as they close on confirming a deal for Marc Guehi
Pep Guardiola said that Manchester City are only interested in signing players that they can get years out of as they prepare to add Marc Guehi to their squad for the second half of the season. City have already signed Antoine Semenyo for £62.5m this month and are now bringing in the Palace defender for an initial £20m fee.
Guardiola admitted that he thought City were in trouble when Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol both picked up significant injuries in the draw with Chelsea on January 4. Max Alleyne was recalled from his loan with Championship side Watford and the pursuit of Guehi stepped up, with the Blues having initially planned to try to sign him this summer when he ran his contract down.
Liverpool were close to signing Guehi for this season, only for a deal to be blocked by Palace at the eleventh hour. However, sporting director Hugo Viana has managed to strike a deal that works for both the player and selling club - and gives Guardiola a premium option to improve his squad for years to come in the form of a 25-year-old England international.
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While Gvardiol and Dias will return to the squad, John Stones and Nathan Ake are not expected to be retained when their contracts are up at the end of the season so Guehi was already being eyed up by City. Bringing him in this month ensures that Guardiola gets his man - and also boosts a depleted squad for the second half of the season.
Guardiola would not comment on Guehi in his press conference on Friday given a deal has not been announced but did state that City were not interested in using the transfer market generally for short-term solutions. “Well, we transfer for the fact to bring back Max. The rest we'll see. Normally when you sign a player, it's not just for three months or two months, it's for years," he said.
"And after the club has to decide, this is the player for years. When we bring Semenyo, we had a problem with the wingers from day one and the chance that maybe we could do it and the club can afford it for the release clause. So Antoine comes for years, he's not come to solve a short problem for that. You know?
"And this is the best way. So when you have an injury like happened now in one department, like a central defender, they don't come (as cover) until the players who come back. Last season, for example, Khusanov or Vitor - especially Khusanov - came you know, 21 years old for many, many years."
If recalling Alleyne was seen as an emergency move, it has been a masterstroke so far. The 20-year-old has looked assured in games with Brighton, Exeter and Newcastle alongside Khusanov, scoring his first goal for the club in the FA Cup game and keeping a clean sheet in the Carabao Cup.
Both will likely line up again at Old Trafford and the mood in the City camp will be much more confident than it was when the injuries to Dias and Gvardiol were originally realised.
"We are in trouble. That was my first thought. But that is why we loaned with an option to recover the player," the manager said. "I knew Max from training two years with us and has big margin to improve. But in general, from the video, not just training because we don’t have training sessions. But in many things we are really good.
"Both [centre-backs] have come in in a tough period, they’ve had tough games. Brighton for Max, Exeter was a bit different because of the result. But Newcastle away, they were brilliant."
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