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January has already lifted Manchester City.
Starting the new year with a bounce-back after winning the Club World Cup and then returning to make it back-to-back Premier League wins, Kevin De Bruyne’s return has everyone looking to City as the team to beat again. While Liverpool sit the most sensible spot in the table, De Bruyne’s magic in turning a 2-1 defeat into a 3-2 win at Newcastle belied expectations that he would need time to adjust after a five-month absence.
Pep Guardiola is counting on the return of one of the most productive players in world football for this second part of the season and also hopes that two others can sign him soon, Erling Haaland and John Stones. The return of Jeremy Doku provides City with even more strength in depth.
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It’s a cliche to say that a returning player is like a new player, yet on top of the feeling that the champions move through the gears in the second half of the season the bounce provided by De Bruyne has been enough to catapult City into the front of everyone’s minds. Unlike last year, their fellow contenders for the Premier League title race have not been able to produce similar.
Arsenal have completed a remarkable first half of the season and their activity in January is testament to a club determined to maintain their leadership. Jorginho and Leandro Trossard were signed via other Premier League clubs and the arrival of finisher Jakub Kiwior brought more than £50m into the window; When they arrived at City in the FA Cup at the end of the month, they looked even more potent for those players.
However, there don’t seem to be any significant arrivals from Arsenal or Liverpool this month. Jurgen Klopp moved beyond the winter windows to avoid paying a premium or facing a bidding war in the summer, as happened with Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo. Weaker with Mohamed Salah on a mission abroad, they are also the most sensible in the league and are therefore surely right.
Meanwhile, Arsenal want to be careful after spending more than £200m this summer and turning David Raya’s loan into a permanent acquisition this month would not provide the same flavour as last year. According to some reports, it is possible that they will simply move for a striker. Although, again, that won’t be enough to move the dial.
January signings don’t work out, and while Arsenal took a step forward last season, they were ultimately trapped against City’s relentless side. However, if the Gunners or Liverpool make the decision not to strengthen while they can, the impetus will be to firmly provide the champions come February.