Do Manchester City need an overhaul?

As the transfer window draws closer, many national newspapers are reporting that Manuel Pellegrini has been given a blank check by the owners of Manchester City to turn the side into one capable of being a dominant force in Europe.

A lot of people are currently saying that they need to get rid of some of their players, and to a degree they are right. Vincent Kompany is error prone for how good he is, their holding midfielders are becoming more and more mismatched and they have just lost their only outfield Englishman that had been given a chance in the first team by Pellegrini.

Despite all this, that team managed a second place finish in the Barclay’s Premier League last year with the highest goal difference of 45. After relying on key players for the past few seasons to push them for the title or for continental qualification, this next season could be the year that Manchester City recapture the Premier League and maybe even push for the domestic trophies.

Paul Pogba, Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne and Giannelli Imbula are all reported targets for Manchester City [according to the Daily Mirror, Sky Sports and Sport24] but are they just strengthening places that dont need to be strengthened? Paul Pogba would be a world class signing for anyone currently, and he would fit in well at Man City, but Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne would fit the same roles that David Silva, Jesus Navas and Stevan Jovetic currently occupy and for me, those three players are just as good as De Bruyne and Sterling, provided they can stay fit and injury free.

Raheem Sterling offers only one thing that these players don’t, and that is his nationality. Being English will be a big help this transfer window as many people are looking to increase the amount of English players in their teams. Kevin De Bruyne is a good young player, who has had good season at Wolfsburg,  helping them to the DFB Pokal, but the question remains, how would he fare back in the Premier League after his disappointing spell at Chelsea. It will be interesting to see what he will bring to the team, and if he will fit back in England if he does make a move to City.

Another player Manchester City are supposedly targeting is Giannelli Imbula but we’re having trouble trying to see where Imbula would fit into Manchester City, as they have already possess three of the same type of players in Fernando, Fernandinho and even Yaya Toure. Imbula has been compared to a young Claude Makelele but Pellegrini risks diluting his squad if he adds another midfielder that could have the same performance issues as some of his other players.

Manuel Pellegrini would be wise to take the advice of Brian Clough and ‘build from the back’. They already have a very good keeper in Joe Hart, who won the golden glove last year. However, as stated previously, Vincent Kompany has been the main line of defense for the past few seasons now, and while he still merits a place, you have to wonder how long he will merit that place if they bring someone in of equal or better quality.

They have good full-backs in Clichy and Zabaleta who work hard for the side from the Etihad Stadium but all this would be rendered un-effective useless if the two centre-backs are never in harmony, and are always making mistakes that cost them points here and there.

A good target for someone of Man City would be Raphael Varane, a young, versatile centre-back, having being linked with a move to the Premier League he would fit at home with his countryman Paul Pogba, who is heavily linked with Man City.

Once the defense is strengthened with key additions, Pellegrini must ask himself. Do I keep Yaya Toure?

With speculation he could be leaving Manchester City in the near future after his influence started to decline in his performances over the last six months. However, Yaya Toure is still arguably the second most important player at Man City behind Sergio Aguero. The strength he still possesses and his presence alone on a pitch makes him a key midfielder, and you’d be tough-pressed to find another player that has the same influence he has at City. He is still, in my opinion a key member of the team, and yes he is ageing and he hasn’t been at his best for the past season, but you look at the players around him and then you ask yourself, who would fill his boots? Fernando? Fernandinho? Nasri? There is no current Man City player that could be utilized the same way that he is at Man City.

Overall, I think that Manchester City are not yet in need of an overhaul. They need what many other teams need, a few key players to lift the potential that already resides in the team. Pogba would be a good start for Manchester City, and Pellegrini needs to address some issues that are becoming ever present in the heavily non-domestic team but they shouldn’t need to start from scratch to win titles. They just need to improve what they already have.