‘I’ve watched Man City for 30 years – they need to sign these five players to win the league’
Daily Star Assistant Editor Richard Brown has followed Man City since the halcyon days of Shaun Goater and Paulo Wanchope and with a new manager coming in, names five signings the Blues need to make
08:07, 24 Jul 2026Updated 08:08, 24 Jul 2026
Enzo Maresca has some big decisions to make(Image: AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Man City are at a crossroads. For the first time in a decade, they go into a new Premier League season without Pep Guardiola leading them and with some of the most iconic players to wear the shirt in recent times heading out of the door.
John Stones and Bernardo Silva have already left, with squad options like Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake, Mateo Kovacic, Savinho and Jack Grealish either already gone or set to exit later this summer.
But that’s no reason to panic. While City fans like myself have become accustomed to success in recent years, those who can remember the 1999 play-off final with Gillingham or David James playing up front against Middlesbrough know that nothing lasts forever.
Manchester City have confirmed a transfer agreement for Elliot Anderson(Image: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista, Getty Images)
Of course it’s sad to say goodbye to players who have been critical to the most successful spell in the club’s history, but it’s also an opportunity to refresh and rejuvenate an ageing squad in the image of new manager Enzo Maresca.
City have already been active in the transfer market, bringing in England World Cup star Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for a hefty £116 but there is clearly more work to do.
So here, I’ve called on my years of pain, misery and ecstasy as a City fan, and named five players they need to bring in to reclaim the Premier League title…and maybe more.
Ayyoub Bouaddi
This one isn’t exactly controversial as an opener, given the Blues have already been strongly linked to the teenage Morocco starlet who wowed with his World Cup performances.
It feels likely a deal gets done, which may see Bouaddi head back to Lille on loan for the upcoming season. But whether he’s a member of the first team squad immediately or not, the 18-year-old looks like a special talent at a position of need for City.
Anderson coming in shores up a central midfield spine that has lost Bernardo, but there remains great concern among City fans over the future of Rodri.
Bouaddi could make the move to the Etihad(Image: Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images)
For my money, he’s comfortably the best player in the Premier League and one of the best central midfielders ever. But with only one year left on his deal and Real Madrid circling, City need to plan for the future.
And that’s where Bouaddi comes in. If he fulfils his sizeable potential, he and Anderson could provide a new midfield pairing for the next 10 years.
Lewis Hall AND Tino Livramento
A two-for-one here, and while it might not seem sensible to go after two defenders from a Newcastle team that struggled this season, both full-back positions are areas for City to target.
Right back has long been a problem spot, and while Matheus Nunes performed admirably out of position, it’s time to invest in a specialist option.
Tino Livramento could solve City’s RB issue(Image: Rich Storry, Getty Images)
On the left, Nico O’Reilly is a revelation, but it feels like his long-term future is as a midfielder rather than the inverting full-back Pep made him into.
That’s where Hall and Livramento come in. Neither are perfect options, and both have struggled with injuries in their young careers, but when fit, they’d provide City with real energy from full-back.
Bradley Barcola
I’ll admit that this one feels ambitious and like a bit of a luxury but it’s my shortlist so let a man dream. Yes, City have Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki, Jeremy Doku and Antoine Semenyo to play across the front line alongside Erling Haaland but adding another game-changer is never a bad thing.
It sounds like Barcola could be available for the right price and with Liverpool also reportedly interested, it’d be a move that would strengthen City and simultaneously weaken a rival for the title.
Signing Bradley Barcola could also undermine Liverpool(Image: NurPhoto, NurPhoto via Getty Images)
At 23, his best years are still ahead of him, and he offers the versatility to play off either wing or through the middle. The idea of having Barcola and Doku starting with Foden and Semenyo coming off the bench against tired defences is enough to scare any team in the world.
That is, Junior Kroupi
First there was Julian Alvarez, then there was Omar Marmoush. City have a record of signing talented back-up strikers who don’t get enough football behind Haaland and eventually want out. There have been rumblings about Marmoush, and if he were to go, there is a ready-made replacement in Kroupi.
Only 20 and already a prolific, Premier-League-proven goalscorer, the young Frenchman would be a phenomenal alternative to Haaland.
Eli Junior Kroupi has been linked with a blockbuster move this summer(Image: Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)
He wouldn’t be cheap, and Bournemouth seemingly have no desire to let him go, but Kroupi would provide both a back-up right now and a potential front-line striker if the hulking Norwegian were ever to leave the Etihad.
