Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany believes that the club's transfer intentions for the summer are "very clear" after 'very obvious mistakes' were made prior to the start of last season.
After winning an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title last season, the Citizens only made two signings in the summer of 2024 in the form of Ilkay Gundogan and Savinho - the former returned on a free transfer from Barcelona while the latter joined from Troyes for an initial £21m.
Meanwhile, Julian Alvarez was sold for a club-record fee to Atletico Madrid and Man City were unable to sign a suitable replacement, leaving them short in the attacking department.
Pep Guardiola's side endured a disappointing, injury-hit 2024-25 campaign, failing to win a major trophy for the first time in eight years and leaving it until the final weekend of the Premier League season to secure a top-five finish and Champion League football for next season.
Man City managed to salvage something positive from their season after spending around £180m on four new arrivals in January including Omar Marmoush, who made a notable impression and scored seven Premier League goals in 14 starts.
On reflection, Man City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has acknowledged that the club "should have been more aggressive" in the summer transfer market, and it ultimately "ended up costing us this year."
'Man City made a massive mistake last summer'
"As a City fan, it's great to hear that they're self-reflecting and looking at where we went wrong this season," McInerney told Sports Mole. "I think the mistakes that City made are very obvious.
"Guardiola's come out and admitted it to be fair to him and he pointed the finger at himself as well. He said that he was the one who personally resisted sweeping changes to the squad last year because he wanted to go again with [the same] players.
"It's very hard to say no to Pep Guardiola given what he's achieved at Manchester City. He'd just won [a fourth league title in a row] four leagues in a row and the treble the season before. He wanted to trust his players again - fair enough."
McInerney added: "In hindsight, of course it's a lot easier to say (that mistakes were made). There were signs of the players slowing down a bit anyway. There were signs of injuries kicking in and so on, and it felt like the right time (to freshen-up the squad) even after the treble.
"Usually when you reach the very top, you can't beat a treble, you're going to go down, some players are naturally going to dip because their motivation does change, and we saw that immediately. We definitely saw it the season after as well. Even though City still won the league, they were nowhere near as fluid, some of the players dipped a little bit in terms of form.
"I think City made a massive mistake (not strengthening further last summer) and I think Guardiola's admitted that and also Khaldoon, the City's chairman has come out and admitted that City made mistakes in not aggressively refreshing the squad and getting that new hunger in.
"All you can ask for, as a fan, is a board and management team that learn from their mistakes. We all make mistakes. It'd be weird of us as City fans to sit here and dwell on it too much given what they've achieved. They are the most successful leadership (team) in football over the past decade or so.
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"They've been absolutely phenomenal, but they only make mistakes because they're human. Everyone makes mistakes. I think sentimentality got in the way a little bit, maybe the obsession with keeping the squad consistent, maybe looking at financial fair play and all that, the other monetary side of things, I do think that played into (Man City's thinking) a little bit.
"[But] it was wrong. They should have changed [the squad and] they are now. The quotes (from Al Mubarak) were forthright, they were honest, they were clearly considered and I think the intentions are very clear of City to come into next season with new ideas, new motivations, new hunger and see a very different Manchester City Football Club.
"I can only take the chairman's word on that, because he usually is a man of his word, pretty honest, he's a winner and he only puts the right people around him to succeed in his ambitions."
Man City plotting swift summer rebuild before Club World Cup
Seeking to make a swift return to the summit of English football, Man City are now focus on rebuilding a "new squad", with new sporting director Hugo Viana one of the leading figures at the club in charge of recruitment.
Al Mubarak has confirmed that several transfer targets have been "clearly identified" by the club and their "objective" is to revamp Guardiola's squad before the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins in just a few weeks' time.
McInerney is excited by the prospect of the Citizens bringing in some new players before the newly-expanded tournament begins, with the likes of Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki and Rayan Ait-Nouri all being heavily linked with moves to the Etihad Stadium.
He said: "I think in in previous years [City's transfer business has] gone on quite late, but given the Club World Cup, not only is it something they want to win because of the prestige of it and it's a new competition, but I also think it's just a massive distraction in the middle of the summer transfer window, so you've got to get in early really.
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Man City's swift transfer strategy is "a really good idea"
"If you don't, you're going to lose a lot of ground, you're going to lose out on some targets... tidying up some loose ends this early on would be great and I think we've already seen signs of it.
"It wasn't exactly hidden that City were in pursuit of Florian Wirtz from Leverkusen and unfortunately City moved on for whatever reason. They cited the financial issues - I felt it was just saving face because he chose Liverpool - but not based on reports. Maybe it is the financial package as Liverpool are apparently still negotiating to try and get a fee down.
"Either way, City moved on and within two or three days the links to Rayan Cherki of Lyon emerged. Very obviously the number-two approach there and I think City have a very swift plan to move on quickly and decisively.
"I think [Al Mubarak is] honest, I think he's telling the truth there and I think it's a really good idea. If you can get the likes of Reijnders, Cherki and people like that, just new signings in general, for the Club World Cup, that fresh energy at a fresh tournament, there's a real excitement around that for those new players to impress Guardiola.
"You have to get them in now, do a little bit of work together and start building for the future now. There's no time like the present. Any progress we can make during the Club World Cup - and it'll only be a few games admittedly as a team - is a step in the right direction.
"If you can sign those two - Reijnders and Cherki - maybe another will join, integrate them but then with the likes of [Claudio] Echeverri who had a touch of football towards the end of the season, Nico Gonzalez can play a bit more, [Abdukodir Khusanov] can play a bit more, Oscar Bobb can finally start his rehabilitation, Rodri can [return] as well - all of a sudden, Manchester City look a very different side to last season and in a good way."
Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion.
Oliver Thomas
