Pep Guardiola can't win at the minute when he steps out in public for his job.

Every word and action from the dugout or press conference room is latched on by anyone with an opinion to extract supposed bigger consequences as Manchester City's atrocious run of form places more microscopes over the Etihad. The same 'body language expert' who used an interview Guardiola did with Italian TV in October to assert that the City manager had 'already accepted an offer' to leave has moved on to peddle new revelations.

As Guardiola has said, he was never cool - you only have to watch one game with him on the touchline to see that - but winning made him cool. Now nothing he does can make him look good, but claw marks over his head or a bloodied nose will draw extra attention.

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City as a club enter the January transfer window in a similar position. It is nearly two years since the Premier League charges dropped and 'business as usual' is a phrase that has often been used inside the Etihad to describe their activities: new contracts and sponsorship deals have been signed, trophies have been won, and hundreds of millions of pounds have been spent in the transfer market - everything you would expect from a club that expects to be cleared of wrongdoing in their arbitration hearing.

Except, with the hearing over and a verdict coming in 2025, it is anything but business as usual on pitch. The team is in crisis and each game gives more evidence to make the case for a major reset and rebuild in the coming transfer markets; if City are to save their season from spiralling further to avoid making that more difficult, action in January looks increasingly necessary.

The decision not to pursue moves for Bruno Guimaraes and Martin Zubimendi next month can easily be seen as consistent with what City have said and done. They don't like to pay over their odds for players and believe their issues this season are fundamentally down to injuries.

But the club have also got where they are today by acting quickly to solve problems rather than letting them get bigger, and every defeat invites more questions about what could be wrong. When the Manchester Evening News reported on Saturday that the club would not be completing deals for Zubimendi and Guimaraes next month, a common response was that it must be related to the 115 charges the club still faces.

City have found from the beginning that many are unprepared to wait for the verdict of the independent panel, and so in many respects this is more of the same. Why should they be bothered if people link the charges to their January business if it is just outside noise?

Unfortunately, perceptions can be reality for many and a failure to do convincing business in January will be seen by many as part of the bigger picture and used against them even if the hearing does bring about the emphatic clearing of City's name that the club expect.

It has been a tortured existence since February 2023 with so many doubting their achievements, but it has also been an unprecedented time for achievements with the Treble and four in a row. If they are to increase their hopes of both winning trophies and removing popular doubts about their past success in the future, they are going to have to make a strong statement in the January transfer window whatever business they end up doing.