City stare at huge summer window

EVEN if the January window slipped away quietly, there are two major decisions on the horizon in the 2020 transfer market that City simply cannot afford to get wrong.

Having added from a position of strength for the past two summers, Pep Guardiola will have to work out how his squad can be improved enough to topple likely Premier League winners Liverpool.

Whatever other changes are made on and off the field, centreback is one of the main priorities.

Not replacing Vincent Kompany – especially when they were willing to pay £70m but not £80m for Harry Maguire – looked a major gamble at the time and has hurt the team ever since Aymeric Laporte suffered a serious injury.

The Frenchman may be gently easing back to full fitness but the landscape around him has changed. Fernandinho has gone from a central midfielder to the team’s most reliable centre-back with John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi failing to take their opportunities.

And Guardiola has also moved away from the 4-3-3 shape that won two league titles, experimenting with three at the back in certain games.

Just as they moved for Rodri the summer after missing out on Jorginho, City will need to correct their centre-back error this summer.

They are on course to concede their highest tally of goals in the league under Guardiola – a worse record than his first season where they finished third – and as the manager has alluded Laporte alone cannot solve all of their problems. A centre-back that can start three times a week should be a must. The other situation that must be managed correctly is Leroy Sane. He is expected to leave at the end of the season for Bayern Munich and he will need to be replaced if he does.

Guardiola may have not always used him in the crunch of last year but the German international’s particular set of skills have been missed while he has been injured.

There is still a faint hope of keeping Sane and that would sort the situation providing his fitness and confidence can be brought back up to the right levels.

But City are likely facing the daunting task of having to plunge into the market this summer and find as rare a talent as the 24-year-old to lift the quality and variety in the squad.

How well they handle their Sane and central defender issues will go a long way to determining how successful City’s business in 2020 is seen.