It increasingly feels like Manchester City will need to spend in the January transfer window.

The problems in the squad have run too deep and with less than two weeks before the New Year show no signs of ending. Players are coming back into the team, it just isn't making any difference to the results.

Pep Guardiola needs a spark, although he has also said recently that he thinks he just needs a bigger squad given the extra demands on the team. The likelihood of a Champions League play-off in February to add to the schedule will do little to end the players stop looking knackered.

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The club have the money to spend big in January if they want to, as their annual report made clear last month. A healthy profit for the last year that didn't even include the record sale of Julian Alvarez or some of the other business completed later in the summer window will allow for even more PSR headroom on top of what was already a sound financial position (charges outcome pending obviously but City believe they will be cleared).

City bosses don't like spending in January because they think it is a sign of things having gone wrong, being reactive rather than proactive in the market. The situation City are in means that they may just have to swallow their medicine over the next month, but Guardiola's decision to renew his contract means the January spend doesn't have to be as kneejerk as it could have been.

Those close to the manager believe he decided to stay until 2027 having himself expected to leave because he wanted to take responsibility for rebuilding a team and squad. While Guardiola has kicked back in press conferences against the notion of needing a rebuild, it would seem the obvious drive given he has spoken about his best achievements being behind him.

If the club are placing their hands in Guardiola to build the next edition of the City team, January can be the time to kickstart the project. Rather than signing players to fix immediate problems for a manager who won't be there in six months, anyone who is thinking of coming knows they have at least two years with the same coach

That can turn January from a period of chaos where clubs rush around trying to solve their mistakes into the start of the next chapter for the City team as Guardiola looks to bring fresh faces and new energy to a side that can't seem to find any and face longing questions over whether they have it within them to discover it again.