Manchester City identify Paris Saint-Germain and Brighton strikers as potential Erling Haaland back-ups in January transfer window | OneFootball

Officials at Manchester City have begun work on identifying potential strikers to come into the squad during the upcoming January transfer window, according to reports.

Etihad Stadium officials are working on the possibility of securing one half of their planned squad rebuild in 2025 taking place in the January and summer transfer windows, with a wide range of positions in need of a refresh.

A dire run of form across competitions has highlighted the desperate need for fresh legs and new faces to come into Pep Guardiola’s squad, having somewhat cut corners in previous markets with a view towards revenue generation and financial sustainability.

However, with that has come a run of 11 matches where Manchester City have only registered one victory, falling 22nd in the UEFA Champions League table, fifth position in the Premier League, and having crashed out of the Carabao Cup at the fourth round stage.

One position that was clearly overlooked by the club during the last summer transfer window was the role of support striker to Erling Haaland, in light of Julian Alvarez’s big-money exit to Atletico Madrid earlier in the window.

Having opted against the likes of now-Real Sociedad forward Orri Óskarsson and Celtic’s Kyogo Furuhashi, pressure has been on for Erling Haaland to continue starting game after game with no rest and such demands are beginning to show in his own performances.

But according to the information of GIVEMESPORT, City are now contemplating whether to take advantage of Randal Kolo Muani being frozen out at Paris Saint-Germain, showing ‘genuine interest’ and ‘informal contacts’ having already been made through intermediaries.

It is explained that the 26-year-old emerged onto the Premier League champions’ radar two months ago and Pep Guardiola is aware that few players of the Frenchman’s pedigree will be available in January.

From the side of City, the report states that the club are expected to prioritise a loan deal before revisiting the situation in the summer, whilst continuing to prioritise midfield before potentially making a move for Kolo Muani or a new striker next month.

Additionally, a further sensational claim points out that Brighton & Hove Albion’s Evan Ferguson could also be targeted by City despite a move initially being ‘downplayed’ and regarded as ‘too risky’ due to his lack of action through injury and selection frustration.

Pep Guardiola has consistently claimed that had injuries and fitness problems not hampered his squad this season, then he would have had ample options available to him to stand-in for Erling Haaland in more of a false-nine role this season.

Speaking on the club’s striker options should Haaland become unavailable or be in urgent need of a rest, Pep Guardiola stated towards the end of October, “Oscar [Bobb] is not here yet, and Phil [Foden] is getting better, so right now Erling’s a really, really important piece in our team.”

Manchester City return immediately into another round of Premier League action on Saturday lunchtime as they take on Aston Villa in the top-flight from Villa Park, hoping to bring an end to their torrid time on the field off the back of a 1-2 derby day defeat to Manchester United.