Why Manchester City Need the Inspiration of a High-Profile Transfer

In times of difficulty for a football club, there is very often a tide of overreaction. Manchester City’s recent struggles have been no different. Talk of Manuel Pellegrini’s job being under threat just a few months after delivering two trophies in one season—for only the second time in the history of the club and the first since 1970—is both ludicrous and unfair. But it’s clear there are some problems which need resolving if City are to halt their poor run of form and make any kind of attempt of halting Chelsea’s relentless charge.

It’s just one win in six for the reigning champions whose grip on the Premier League trophy appears to be loosening with each match. There’s an incoherence to their play and a nervousness sweeping the side. One or two are immune, but, for the most part, their players are performing below the standard they set during the last campaign.

Identifying the problem is difficult. Clearly, formation, if an issue at all, is a minor one. City’s inability to hang on to a 2-0 lead in Moscow or beat a Queens Park Rangers side who started the match perilously close to the bottom of the table was not because of the system employed by the manager—both times, the City XI was strong enough to take three points.

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Inertia, it seems, has set in. One possible antidote to that would be to make a significant signing, the kind of player capable of lifting a side by bringing a new edge to the team’s play. City have spent recent transfer windows assembling a solid supporting cast to their spine of star players, with the last world-class attacking signing they made back in 2011 when they spent £38 million on Sergio Aguero.

Fernandinho may have cost £30 million when he arrived from Shakhtar Donetsk last summer, but he is a player who excels at doing the unglamorous side of the game, the running, harrying and tackling that often goes unnoticed.

Alvaro Negredo came and went, and he proved to be a player who blew somewhat hot and cold, and Eliaquim Mangala, a 23-year-old defender was this summer’s big move.

It could well be time to lace their attack with new intent.

Clearly, the FFP sanctions placed on the club damaged them last summer, perhaps more than many had originally felt. Angel Di Maria’s move from Real Madrid to Manchester United highlighted City’s restrictions perfectly: They would surely have made a move for a player of his pedigree had they not been given a £49 million net spend limit by UEFA.

But City’s prudence and the £25 million they are set to land themselves when Alvaro Negredo’s move to Valencia is confirmed as permanent in the summer, as well as the prospect of their FFP sanctions being relaxed if they, as expected, fulfill the criteria this time around, means they will likely have much more room to manouvre in the summer.

Players like Isco, Madrid’s wonderfully talented midfielder who worked with Pellegrini at Malaga, and Marco Reus, Borussia Dortmund’s ever-impressive German winger who has a £19.5 million release clause in his current contract, would surely be high up the list.

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As would Ross Barkley, a player who appears to be tempting the City board into a big-money offer after having one rejected earlier in the season, according to Simon Mullock at the Mirror. He is young and English, with the capability of going on to become one of the finest creative players in world football. He ticks all the boxes, and it’s down to Txiki Begiristain, the club’s director of football, to get Everton to sell at a price that suits City.

Atletico Madrid’s Koke is also likely to be on City’s radar, with the need for a player who has status and world-class technical ability clear. Not only would a player of that ilk bring additional quality to City’s first XI, he would raise the game of those around them.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2014-15 season. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard.