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£65M SOLUTION: GUARDIOLA TARGETS SEMENYO AFTER LEVERKUSEN LOSS

After a shocking home loss to Leverkusen, Man City's hopes in the UCL are in doubt. Pep may spend big on Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo to partner with Haaland.

£65M Solution: Guardiola Targets Semenyo After Leverkusen Loss
City Ready to Trigger Semenyo's Release Clause

Pep Guardiola shook things up for Tuesday's Champions League game against Bayer Leverkusen, keeping only Nico González in the starting lineup, and it didn't work out.

Manchester City lost at home in the group stage for the first time since September 2018 against Olympique Lyonnais. Leverkusen won comfortably, 2-0, at the Etihad.

Nico O'Reilly, Jérémy Doku, and Phil Foden came on at halftime, with Rayan Cherki and Erling Braut Håland joining them later, but they didn't really threaten Leverkusen's goal.

Now, City's chances of finishing in the top eight in the Champions League are in doubt. They're heading to Real Madrid in two weeks, before playing Bodø/Glimt near the Arctic Circle and then Galatasaray at home in late January.

After the game, Guardiola talked about his team's lack of depth, which might push him to make a move in the January transfer market for what some are calling the best winger in the country.

Man City Eyes Attacking Options

This past January, Manchester City spent around £180 million on Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis, Juma Bah, Nico González, and Omar Marmoush, outspending all other Premier League clubs combined.

Reports from Spain say they might spend big again this winter, with Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo as a 'priority target.'

Man City is reportedly 'considering' a January move for the Ghanaian attacker, along with Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham, and others.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Semenyo has a £65 million release clause that kicks in on January 1st. This means he could choose his next club, and Bournemouth couldn't stop him from leaving.

How Semenyo Could Help Manchester City

Chris Waddle, a former England player, has claimed that Semenyo is the best winger in the country this season. Anantaajith Raghuraman from The Athletic even suggested he's 'the best player in the Premier League right now.'

That's not too far-fetched, seeing as he's already scored six goals and made three assists this season.

Semenyo has been a standout player in the league so far.

Only Håland, Igor Thiago, and Danny Welbeck have scored more goals. Among players with at least 10 shots on target, only Håland has a higher percentage, showing how clinical he's become.

One of the main benefits of signing Semenyo in January would be to take some pressure off Håland.

Håland already has 14 league goals, but the only other City player to score more than once is Maxime Estève, who scored two own goals in the game against Burnley in September.

Players like Foden, Cherki, and Doku have shown flashes of brilliance, but not as consistently as Semenyo has been performing on the South Coast.

So, alongside Håland, he could form a great partnership that could bring the good times back to the Etihad as they try to catch up with Premier League leaders Arsenal.

WHY DECEMBER 2025 WAS PEP GUARDIOLA’S MOST "STATISTICALLY PERFECT" MONTH EVER

Pep Guardiola’s "most impressive month" is over. Read why Man City are now favourites to snatch the 2026 Premier League title.

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Guardiola’s Men Prepare For Sunderland

It's tough to say how the 2025/26 team will stack up against Pep Guardiola's other squads from his decade at the Etihad. They've shown a lot of potential six months into the season, but trophies aren't a sure thing yet.

Still, December 2025 definitely stands out as a crazy good month in Guardiola's 95-month tenure. It's not just that the Blues are doing well in the Premier League and Champions League, but where they got those wins.

Winning at Fulham, Real Madrid, Crystal Palace, and Nottingham Forest in a single month is quite the feat. Craven Cottage might not be the scariest place, but it's a long trip for a midweek game. Plus, the other three teams have been a pain for City in recent years.

Guardiola might not be thrilled with how they won—he wants them to be consistent for the entire match and for his young players to really show who they are all the time. But getting wins at those stadiums will help his players learn as they go. Once you’ve won at the Bernabeu, not many places can intimidate you, and the Forest win was huge because City lost there badly nine months prior.

City has totally answered questions about their away game performance this season. They lost three of their four league games—against Brighton, Villa, and Newcastle—on the road. They also messed up at Monaco in the Champions League after a bad second half when they should have won. Erling Haaland was mad and stormed off after the final whistle.

Those worries are gone after a month that was one of City's best ever away from home, statistically speaking. The last time City won all their away games in a month was in early 2024/25. Before that, you’d have to go back almost two years to February 2024 to find a month where they won four.

That February 2024 team was on its way to winning a fourth straight Premier League title and reaching the FA Cup Final. Before that, it was December 2021. City never won four away games in a month during their treble season, for instance.

Part of that is just how the schedule works—there aren't always four away games in a month. And once April and May roll around, if City is still in the FA Cup, they play at a neutral site. Still, it's amazing how good their December was, picking up so many good results from tough places.

That changes things as they head into another tough month with four more away games. They're at Sunderland on New Year's Day (who haven't lost at home in the Premier League this season), then at Newcastle for the first leg of their league cup semi-final, knowing they lost there recently and haven't won there in two years.

A few days later, it's the Manchester derby, followed by a trip to Bodo as they try to finish in the top eight in the first stage of the Champions League. City has done pretty well at Old Trafford lately, but derbies are always tense. And a plastic field in the Arctic Circle doesn't sound easy.

But City can go into these games feeling more confident after the December they just had. No matter how much the home teams try to rattle them, Guardiola’s improving squad has proven they can get results anywhere. They’ll see the first game of the year in the Northeast as a chance to really show what they want to accomplish in 2026.

OFFICIAL REPORT: RODRI RETURNS AS MANCHESTER CITY EXTEND DOMINANT EIGHT-MATCH WINNING STREAK

Rodri returns as Manchester City extends its winning run to eight games. Discover how the Club World Cup saved City's season.

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Rodri is back in the squad for City’

It felt right having Rodri back. Pep Guardiola talked more openly than before about how good the Club World Cup was for Manchester City. He'd said it could be a disaster for the team. Now, they see it as what got them back on track.

At the end of June, he said, The main thing is to get back to our old selves. That's my goal for this competition. I want them to feel like we're back to being competitive, like we have for most of the last decade. Then we'll see.

We'll see after the final. We'll rest as much as the Premier League allows. Maybe it'll be awful in the winter. Maybe we'll be tired, and the World Cup will have messed us up. I don't know; we've never done this before. We'll find out when we get back.

The good from the Club World Cup wasn't clear right away. City played alright against Juventus, but then had a tough loss against Al Hilal in the last 16. Plus, Rodri hurt his hamstring on a bad field during that loss, which messed up his recovery from his ACL injury.

In September, Rodri started three games in a week against United, Napoli, and Arsenal. That wore him out, and he soon got another hamstring issue at Brentford, keeping him out for about ten weeks.

It might not be fair, but it doesn't seem like the Club World Cup helped Rodri get better. His being back in the team at the City Ground hints at a better second half of the season.

When he's back on the field, he'll join a team that's figured out how to win and fight for the league title without him. City has won their last eight games in a row in all competitions. Their longest streak since winning the Club World Cup. Guardiola mentions that the team has rediscovered the identity he wanted.

Despite worrying about the tournament and the problems that came up, FIFA's power move has given City a chance to reset, which they really needed to get back to full strength.

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