Pep Guardiola seems to be seeing his dark days overseeing Manchester City as the team suffered another defeat making it two losses in three games since the start of the Premier League 2025/26 season. Brighton may not have been favorites to win this match as everyone thought City were going to make a statement after losing to Tottenham at the Etihad last weekend.
Losing Rodri due to injury in the early stages of last season was largely attributed to why Manchester City seemed to be falling off the seams. But that may not be true as they had a good run of form despite the Balon D’or winner’s absence. In fact, they won 10 games just after he got injured before the run of bad form started.
By the January transfer window of 2025, Manchester City went in with reinforcements. They signed two defenders in Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov, striker Omar Marmoush, and Nico Gonzalez, a central midfielder. These four signings cost city €205 million but they didn’t put up so much of a difference. They lost 3-1 and 3-2 to Real Madrid in the Champions League, 5-1 to Arsenal, lost the FA cup final to Crystal Palace, among others.
Aside Marmoush and Gonzalez, Vitor Reis and Khusanov were dropped from the pecking order.
This Summer Transfer window, nobody expected Manchester City to move the way they have done so far. They completed much of their signings even before the official window started as they signed: Ait-Nouri from Wolves, Cherki from Lyon, Reijnders from AC Milan, Trafford from Burnley, and on deadline Day, they have signed Donnarumma. That is five more signings, nine in 2025 for Manchester City.
With all these additions and the return of the “missing piece” in Rodri, Manchester City’s woes still continue. But then, it could be too early to decide that. The International Break will provide enough time for Pep to assess his situation and find a resolution ahead of the Manchester Derby on Sunday 14th September.
