ClapManchester City are one of the most successful teams in the modern day history of English football, and that much is obvious. Alongside Liverpool the two clubs look set to reign over the game in the Premier League, and potentially in Europe, for many months and maybe even years to come.
This season is going to be really fascinating for the club, mainly because nobody really knows what is going to define success for them. They’re coming off the back of a campaign in which they were able to capture the domestic treble and that, in its own right, is a very, very impressive accomplishment.
As reported by BBC and Manchester Evening News, however, the recent injury of Aymeric Laporte could force Pep Guardiola’s hand into making changes during the January transfer window.
The big question mark
“Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte has had surgery on his right knee in Barcelona after being carried off in the 4-0 win over Brighton.
Laporte damaged his cartilage and lateral meniscus in a challenge with Brighton defender Adam Webster.
The operation was successful but City have not yet given an indication of how long the 25-year-old will be out.
Laporte made 35 league appearances last season with Bernardo Silva the only City outfield player to play more.
The injury ruled him out of a possible debut for France after he had been called up by coach Didier Deschamps for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against Albania and Andorra.”
Those are the words of BBC, and while they indicated that they weren’t so sure as to how long he would be out, it’s starting to seem as if it’ll be at least four months.
But that’s just one player, and that’s just one thing to be focusing on. When we take a look at the bigger picture, it soon becomes a lot clearer that this is the most high pressure season of Guardiola’s career. He’s been able to get the job done in Europe in the past, but now, he needs to try and juggle that to go alongside the rest of the chaos that he has to deal with.
What’s left to prove?
It’s hard to feel sorry for a guy that has been directly involved with so much widespread success over the years, but either way, we’re pretty excited to see what they can achieve.
In terms of the title, we honestly believe their success or failure will depend on what happens in Europe. If they lose the Premier League title and don’t win either domestic trophy (or only win one), it literally isn’t going to matter if they can lift the Champions League trophy high for the very first time.
City are a phenomenal team but maintaining that consistent success has been the Achilles heel of many, many top teams in English football over the years. If they can overcome that kind of an obstacle and keep building on everything they’ve already done up to this point, then we see no reason why they can’t become something truly iconic.
