Pep Guardiola has three new players by his side and a long four months ahead of him. The new-look Manchester City is taking shape at pace, after a week in which some £122m was spent on Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis, and yet Guardiola believes the old City will not return this season.

“Next season we will be back,” he said. But not before. “Really, now it is a question to survive, to qualify [for the Champions League], to fight for the title if it is possible; otherwise to accept the reality is completely different from the last eight or nine years.”

The reality is so different that it is very plausible that City, 25th in the Champions League, will not even secure a play-off place. “In the beginning I would not think we could not qualify or be in the 24,” Guardiola said. He feared a slide, but the extent has surprised even him. “Three months ago, two months ago, I said this season we are going to suffer, I smell it and it has happened and it is going to happen,” he explained.

The sense that it has gone worse than anticipated is reflected in City’s January business. Guardiola had envisaged signings at the end of the season. “It’s always better to do it in the summer,” said a manager who, since Aymeric Laporte’s arrival in 2018, had tended to sit out the winter window. Now he had to act. Those signings had to be accelerated because of injury problems.

“If you have all the central defenders fit, fit, fit, you will not have central defenders signing,” he said. Instead, Khusanov and Reis have been bought while only Manuel Akanji of his four established centre-backs is fully fit for Saturday’s clash with Chelsea; an abductor problem has sidelined Ruben Dias. “Sometimes life gives you circumstances,” sighed Guardiola. “Ruben is never injured.” He is now.

Khusanov is a likelier replacement than Reis, whose Palmeiras career only extended to 22 games. “Maybe he’ll need more time to adapt,” said Guardiola of the teenager. “He’s come for many years, not just for now.” City’s recruitment may be long-term planning, with their arrivals aged 19, 20 (Khusanov) and 25 (Marmoush), but there is a short-term need.

Khusanov was playing in Belarus two years ago. He has been on City’s radar for months, discussed by director of football Txiki Begiristain in meetings with Guardiola. “The people say it's a potential player for the next years because all the players we don’t sign for one year,” said the manager. “They are big, big years to come here, and that is why we decided to do it. We saw his specific qualities that we don't have. I'm pretty sure he'll help us. He is young. He will learn.”

He may have to do so quickly, given the fixture list, though all three newcomers are ineligible for Wednesday’s Champions League showdown with Brugge. The impression was that Guardiola’s thoughts are already turning to booking a place in next season’s competition: City’s performance levels are such that, even if they make the play-offs, they scarcely resemble possible winners this season. So Guardiola instead cited the possibility that fifth place might take City back into the competition. If they can finish there.

“Chelsea is not in the Champions League, [Manchester] United is not in it,” he said. “It can happen to us as well. There is something missing and I have to discover it quick. The players run a lot but the other teams play better. They have more physicality and intensity. The toughest and quickest players we had decided to leave the club.”

Was that a reference to the running machine that is Julian Alvarez, or to Kyle Walker who, until the last few months, looked City’s fastest sprinter? Because if Marmoush, who Guardiola said has “incredible quality in the final third”, is the eventual replacement for the Argentinian, Khusanov may be charged with taking over some of the captain’s duties now Walker has joined AC Milan.

He operated in the centre of a back three for Lens but Guardiola said: “He can play centre-back, right-back, back three on the right or in the middle.” While City have an interest in the Juventus defender Andrea Cambiaso, there is a chance they will end the window without bringing in a specialist right-back. “It is what it is,” shrugged Guardiola. Khusanov may join the string of makeshift right-backs.

But City could do with more recovery pace. “I don’t think just the speed of Khusanov is going to solve our problems,” Guardiola countered. “It will help us. Speed is important but against PSG we ran more than them.”

The statistics showed that Paris Saint-Germain ran 120.5km to City’s 127.7km. But if one issue was that Luis Enrique’s team seemed to sprint more, and at higher speed, City had to work because they managed only 36 per cent possession. “To define our team is the ball,” said Guardiola. “Our problem is with the ball.”

Signing two defenders and one forward should improve City at either end but perhaps not in the middle of the pitch. And as the window enters its final 10 days, and City look to the long term with the £122m trio, they still don’t have a Rodri replacement to tide them over for the next four months. And if Guardiola’s words suggest they cannot truly be back without the Ballon d’Or winner, it is still uncertain whether the midfield maestro will return to a team in the Champions League.