Sky Blue News: Transfer Tally, Summer Look Ahead, 50 Club, and More...

The transfer window is closed and Manchester City have made no major signings. The Mancunian Blues now turn their attention to their Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend. Sky Blue News is here with all the latest to help you get ready for the trip to London.

Man City transfer ins and outs from January window in full - Joe Bray - Manchester Evening News

Youngster Maximo Perrone was the only incoming transfer, who joins to be assessed for any future role, with Joao Cancelo’s late loan exit to Bayern Munich the headline transfer in January.

Cancelo opted to leave City on loan after becoming unhappy with dropping out of the City side in recent weeks and will be a Bayern player until the end of the season. Then, the German club have a £61million option to make the move permanent - although Cancelo himself suggested he would be open to returning to City.

Perrone will arrive in Manchester soon after his campaign with Argentina at the South American under-20 Championships ended earlier than expected, and the 20-year-old will train with City’s first team until the end of the season. Then, a decision will be made over whether he remains at the Etihad next season or leaves on loan.

Has Animosity Split Joao Cancelo From Manchester City? - Manc Pete - Bitter and Blue

Speculation has been rife that all has not been well between Cancelo and Guardiola, with some pointing to his lack of form following the World Cup. He has made just three starts since returning from Qatar and has been an unused substitute in five of City’s ten matches from December. Cancelo was also withdrawn at half-time during City’s 1-0 win at Chelsea at the turn of the year.

Although Cancelo states that it was the playing time that was the issue, the City statement indicates otherwise. A 51-word statement that is straight to the point is what the blues have put out. Compare this to the almost 800-word piece written when Raheem Sterling left the club in the summer, and you can see there’s clearly something has gone on behind the scenes. Admittedly, Sterling’s service had been longer, but the departure of a first-team player has been announced like a youth player.

It is rumoured that Cancelo and Guardiola were involved in a training ground bust-up, which hasn’t been confirmed by either club or player, but it may have resulted in the defender demanding more playing time than Guardiola was prepared to give. Further rumours indicate that Guardiola was unhappy with Cancelo’s attitude at losing his place and was happy for him to leave.

MBETE JOINS BOLTON ON LOAN - ManCity.com

The England Under-21 international made his senior debut in City’s 6-1 Carabao Cup third-round victory over Wycombe Wanderers in September 2021.

He then followed that up with his maiden FA Cup appearance when coming off the bench in our 4-1 third round victory at Swindon Town in January 2022.

Mbete, who joined the Club at Under-12 level, also went onto make his Champions League bow in our 5-0 last 16 first leg victory away to Sporting of Portugal in February of last year.

Luke will now continue his development at Bolton and everyone at City wishes him the best of luck for the rest of the season.

Manchester City interested in summer move for James Maddison - Tom Cayless - City Report

In the summer, the 26-year-old will enter the last year of his contract at the King Power Stadium and has, so far, shown no intention of agreeing on a new deal, according to the report – leaving Leicester in an uneasy position. Although an estimated fee is not yet known, it is worth noting that Newcastle United reportedly had two bids rejected last summer as they were not close to the asking price of around £60 million.

Gaughan and Collomosse report that City firming up interest in Maddison may be contingent on other factors, including the pursuit of another forward and Phil Foden potentially moving into midfield as a result, whilst the futures of both Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva beyond the end of the season remain unclear.

City also hold an interest in Jude Bellingham, and it was reported by Mike Keegan of the Daily Mail in November that they had held initial talks about signing the Englishman, with insiders believing that the 19-year-old would end up at the Etihad Stadium.

Everton, Leeds and West Ham make Manchester City midfielder enquiries - Harry Winters - City Xtra

Despite limited minutes and difficult start to life in East Manchester, the City manager believes that Phillips will play an ‘important’ role for the Premier League champions during the remainder of the season, and as a result has blocked a series of transfer approaches.

The Sun report that Manchester City have turned down offers from three Premier League sides for the 27 year-old midfielder.

Everton, West Ham and even Phillips’ former club Leeds have reportedly enquired about the possibility of signing the City player on loan for the remainder of the campaign.

The Hammers had previously tried to sign Phillips in the summer, while newly appointed Everton manager Sean Dyche considered the England international as ‘ideal’ to help the Toffees survival fight.

Look Out, Messi: Erling Haaland Is Coming For Your 50-Goal Club - Daniel Levitt - FiveThirtyEight

Whenever Haaland touches the ball — or is even near it — defenders throughout the league are on high alert for potential embarrassment. Surrounded by some of the world’s most gifted playmakers — Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden, to name just three — the 50-goal mark is not out of the question this season.

And it’s not just English records Haaland has in his path of destruction, either. Looking at the best single-season totals ever in Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, Germany’s Bundesliga and France’s Ligue 1, Haaland is quickly climbing the combined record books of Europe’s Big Five leagues. If the Norwegian forward continues at his current strike rate, only Lionel Messi’s mesmerizing 50-goal La Liga campaign for Barcelona in the 2011-12 season will stand in his way for the most in the Big Five leagues’ history.

And finally... A look at the evolution of the relationship between CFG’s first two clubs.

Once Manchester City’s sibling, NYC FC is now more like a distant cousin - The Guardian

Before New York City FC, there was only Manchester City under the City Football Group (CFG) umbrella. The establishment of Major League Soccer’s 20th franchise in 2013 marked the creation of a new global soccer entity that would soon enough stretch across five continents and count several clubs among its network, but CFG’s first outpost outside the UK was in New York.

This was to NYC FC’s benefit. While Manchester City has always been CFG’s primary focus, a strong connection was forged between the Premier League and MLS siblings. Four City players were signed to be part of NYC FC’s squad for their debut season in 2015. Over the next few years, City sent some of their prospects (including Angelino and Yangel Herrera) to the Bronx for first-team experience and NYC FC sent some of their best players in the other direction – see Frank Lampard and Jack Harrison.

Now, though, the traffic between the two clubs has slowed almost to a complete stop. In fact, CFG is increasingly funnelling players away from New York. NYC FC, who haven’t received a player directly from Manchester City in recent years, have seemingly fallen down the CFG pecking order.

Alexander Callens, for example, left NYC FC at the end of his contract to sign for Girona, the Spanish La Liga club part-owned by CFG and Pep Guardiola’s brother, Pere. Callens was an integral part of Nick Cushing’s team, but that didn’t stop CFG from placing the defender at another one of their clubs.

There you have it Cityzens. Stay with us at Bitter and Blue as we build toward the weekend. Come back tomorrow for more from Sky Blue News.