Manchester City aim to complete new signings for Club World Cup, says Khaldoon Al Mubarak | OneFootball

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has outlined the club’s ambitions in the upcoming summer transfer window to challenge on all fronts next season.

Pep Guardiola’s side face a crossroads summer after a sub-standard 2024-25 campaign that saw City lose their Premier League crown to Liverpool and crash out of the UEFA Champions League at the Round of 16 stage.

City also lost the FA Cup final to Crystal Palace and there is a wide-ranging acceptance that changes need to be made in the summer transfer window to get Guardiola and co back where they have so consistently been in terms of challenging for major trophies.

Kevin De Bruyne is closing in on a move to Napoli after being told he is not part of Manchester City’s plans next season as the Blues eye four to five first-team signings ahead of the 2025-26 season.

Manchester City had previously identified Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz as their number one target to replace De Bruyne but the 2023 treble winners have pulled out of the race to sign the 22-year-old Germany international, who prefers a transfer to Liverpool.

That being said, City have shifted their focus to Lyon’s Rayan Cherki to bolster their attacking midfield as they work on deals to sign AC Milan’s Tijjani Reijnders and Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White – who are both believed to have agreed personal terms to move to the Etihad Stadium.

Speaking in his annual end-of-season review, club president Khaldoon Al Mubarak has outlined Manchester City’s ambitions for the summer transfer window ahead of their commitments in the FIFA Club World Cup between June and July.

“I can tell you today, we have clearly identified who exactly are the targets, in what positions, and we have our clear number one option, our clear number two option,” Al Mubarak said.

“And we’ll go about our business, and it will be very clear, very swift. Our objective is to try to be ready with the new squad for the Club World Cup.”

City signed the quartet of Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Nico Gonzalez for £181.5 million in January to begin a rebuild after a difficult first six months of the season that left Guardiola in the midst of a dire injury crisis across the pitch.

“We already started that rebuild of this team in January. Normally we like to do our business in the summer and only in case of emergency, a special need that comes up, do we actually go and do business in January,” Al Mubarak added.

“That’s been our MO, at least for the last seven or eight years. But this January, we had to act. We feel very good about these players. That’s four players in January. And that gives you an idea of what’s coming this summer because we will continue this summer with this, you know, serving the needs of the club.

“I think, with Omar Marmoush, excellent player. And I think it’s very clear he’s been on our radar for a while and would have been a target for this summer but the need was clear. He’s come in and you can see, he’s made an immediate impact.

“Then you have (Abdukodir) Khusanov. Khusanov is another very, very talented central defender that we’ve been, again, watching for a while. And again, in the winter, would have been a player that we probably would have made the move on this summer. But we needed to move early.

“At that moment, if you remember, there was a lot of injuries in that very specific position, which is in central defence. And Khusanov is the type of young, versatile, very talented, central defender that I think would fit perfectly within our group.

“Vitor Reis, very talented central defender, very versatile. 19, young, but has all the attributes of what we think will be a tremendous player for this club.

“And then finally, Nico González, very talented player again, has been on our radar for a while.  We had very specific needs in that holding midfielder position in January.

“Never easy to move for players in the January window, never easy for them to come in and immediately perform in the Premier League to start with, in our team which is again, quite a team. But credit to all these four players. They all came in and immediately, added to the club and to the team.”