This week’s Q&A takes a look at Manchester City’s plans for the summer transfer window with the transformation of the squad set to continue.

06:00, 13 Mar 2026

Manchester City looked to have put the disappointment of their 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest behind them as they produced a dominant display against Newcastle in the FA Cup last weekend. And then they travelled to Madrid.

A 3-0 defeat to Real Madrid leaves them needing a miracle in the second leg next week and before then they have another tough trip down to face West Ham in the Premier League on Saturday night. With so much going on at the club, we’ll be hosting weekly Q&A sessions with our chief City writer Simon Bajkowski.

The day of the week it comes out on may change depending on what City’s schedule looks like, but essentially this is your chance to get an answer on anything you want – simply pop your question here at any time of the week and Simon will pick them all up and wrap everything up in one place.

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This week we are looking at the summer transfer window as well as the state of play with some club greats. After three transfer windows that have transformed the squad, it looks like there will be more change ahead.

What are the potential signings Man City will make in the summer transfer window? Will we only have a midfielder and a right-back? Ali

What is the plan for this summer window mainly about Livramento, Elliot Anderson, winger situation and what is the future of Vitor Reis? Santanu Bhunia

These questions didn’t come in after the Champions League defeat to Real Madrid, but it feels like a natural place to start. After another mauling at the Bernabeu, let’s cheer ourselves up with some transfer talk about how the team could be better next season. That’s partly tongue in cheek, but we are getting towards the stage where City will want to be closing on exactly the summer business that they think they can do.

Elliot Anderson is a priority in a midfield that needs at least one more body in it. He won’t be cheap but has proven himself to be one of the most reliable Premier League performers in a Forest side that are one of the most volatile in the division, and his goal at the Etihad recently topped off another excellent performance. City face competition for him, and United will fancy their chances if they can promise Champions League football, but City will be confident they can land him. Other factors will determine if another midfielder is needed.

The next obvious position is right-back, although it is not clear that they will definitely sign one. They have certainly looked at a few players in the position, in the younger age bracket so not coming in as first-choice, but then they did that last summer and ultimately opted against. Links with Newcastle’s Tino Livramento have again been dismissed, which is perhaps another indicator that City aren’t convinced about spending a lot of money on the role (although Livramento’s injury record has also been poor over the last two seasons).

Everyone is happier with Matheus Nunes at right-back now he himself has committed to the position, and Guardiola was happy enough with Abdukodir Khusanov there to use him at the Bernabeu. Vitor Reis is pushing for a return to Manchester with his performances at Girona and Guardiola may decide that having more centre-backs that can be shifted out wide is better than signing a specialist who will not be as adept covering the middle.

Any word of a Bernie 1-year extension? E

Still nothing. It’s not impossible, and it has happened before with other players where they have come to an agreement late in the year to stay for another campaign. But it is not looking any more likely than it has done all season. Silva wanted to stay this season and wants to leave his mark as captain, but he seems happy enough with leaving the club in a good place again without needing another haul of trophies before he goes off to pursue another challenge while he still has plenty to offer.

How much longer are you staying Pep? Another 10yrs please. Norman

This also came in before the Champions League game, and there are more fans who are open to him leaving at the end of the season after that 3-0 defeat. That won’t be the way the board see it though, who still regard Guardiola as the best man for the job. Given City entered March alive in four competitions, they would probably argue that it has already been a successful season – particularly given last year and the changes over the last three transfer windows – regardless of whether City win anything or not. That may not be how everyone sees it, but there is a valid point in there.

Guardiola’s interview before the Madrid game with TNT leaned more into an exit at the end of the season as he reminisced about the grounds that he will miss when he leaves. There were also some people who took his very attacking lineup at the Bernabeu to be an attempt to claim one final emphatic victory on what could be his last time in the dugout at the ground of Barcelona’s most bitter rivals. Guardiola knows, though, that he is nearing the end, even if he stays another year and will also be well aware of the speculation surrounding his future, so can choose to lean into it when he wants. He certainly isn’t being as reflective and retrospective as he was last season amid City’s struggles.

Hello, Simon! There are a lot of rumours about Rodri potentially leaving for Real Madrid. The latest news about his contract was during the summer transfer window. My question is: what is the current situation with his contract? Is there a chance he will extend his contract or will he leave for a new challenge? He is my favourite player on the team, so I am very concerned about his future. Ulugbek

Hi Ulugbek, Rodri is an interesting one – not least because he is coveted by Real president Florentino Perez, a man who has been used to getting what he wants for decades. A new City contract has not been seen as urgent this season while the player has been working his way back from injury, but the club are now relying on banking the goodwill they feel they have to get Rodri to extend.

They will not want his deal to go far into the final 12 months next season and if they are to lose him will want a substantial fee given the support and patience that he has had around his injury problems. The World Cup is another potential complication though with Rodri spending a big chunk of the summer with teammates from Spain, and he will also have to weigh up how long he can thrive in a Premier League that is increasingly physical. I wouldn’t say City are worried about losing Rodri, but the longer it goes without any significant breakthroughs in contract talks the doubts may start to creep in.

Chelsea have been told to go all out to sign a Man City star this summer amid their ongoing troubles this season

Former Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole believes the Blues should pursue James Trafford vigorously this summer, given Robert Sanchez’s inconsistent performances.

The England youth international impressed with Burnley in the Championship last season, guiding the Clarets to promotion back to the Premier League.

Trafford attracted interest from numerous top-flight clubs before Man City triggered a buy-back clause in their arrangement with Burnley, securing him for £31million.

Nevertheless, he’s featured in only 11 matches across all competitions ahead of the FA Cup fixture against Newcastle United.

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Chelsea are expected to integrate loanee Mike Penders into the senior squad when his temporary spell at sister club Strasbourg concludes this summer, with the Belgian youth international performing impressively in Ligue 1 this season.

However, the Blues have also been linked with a move for AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan, which hints they could try to sign a goalkeeper if the right one becomes available.

Yet Cole believes Chelsea shouldn’t miss the chance to acquire Trafford this summer if he becomes available.

The former Chelsea player told Paddy Power: “It’s hard with Robert Sanchez because he’s performed well at times. He came out of the starting lineup to Jorgenson the other day.

“So it doesn’t look like Liam Rosenior has settled on a No.1 as much as he says he ‘doesn’t have a No.1’. That’s just how he operates.

“When a goalkeeper like James Trafford becomes available, then Chelsea may have to strike. He is improving, is Sanchez, but I still think there’s another level. Is it going to be there in time for Chelsea to kick on and be challenging for the Champions League and competing with the Arsenal and Man City’s of the world?

“Liverpool have got Allison, Man City have got [Gianluigi] Donnarumma, and Arsenal have got David Raya. That’s the level of goalkeeper Chelsea need. Sanchez can get there, but can he get there quick enough?”

Trafford was also linked with a switch to Newcastle United this summer but opted to rejoin his former club City, though things haven’t gone to plan for the England youth international with Gianluigi Donnarumma firmly established as first choice.

When questioned just last month about his role as cup goalkeeper at City, Trafford explained: “I didn’t expect the situation [with Donnarumma] to happen but it happened, so just get on with it.

“So it’s happened so I work very hard every day and see what happens, give it my best shot. No, it wasn’t [no.1 spot promised]. So it is what it is.

“It’s football, you’ve got to keep grafting every day and the games that come, play as hard as you can. This is just another experience to add to my career and it has been a good learning experience.”

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Our regular Q&A this week looks at Manchester City’s North Stand and the futures of some of Pep Guardiola’s key men.

15:59, 06 Mar 2026

A lot can happen in a week, and it’s certainly been an eventful time at Manchester City since our last Q&A. Pep Guardiola’s side knew their Premier League destiny was in their own hands a few days ago, with maximum points from their remaining league games ensuring they would be crowned champions. That is no longer the case.

The disappointing 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night saw Arsenal stretch their advantage at the top of the table to seven points. But you can guarantee that won’t be the last twist in this pulsating title race.

City have also been drawn against Real Madrid in the Champions League, of course. City will travel to the Spanish capital next week for the first leg of their last 16 tie, but before then they head to Newcastle as they look to keep their FA Cup hopes alive.

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With so much going on at the club, we’ll be hosting weekly Q&A sessions with our chief City writer Simon Bajkowski. The day of the week it comes out on may change depending on what City’s schedule looks like, but essentially this is your chance to get an answer on anything you want – simply pop your question here at any time of the week and Simon will pick them all up and wrap everything up in one place.

“Do you think that the club & the supporters groups should launch a campaign for ‘Two ends are better than one’. 1894 would prefer to remain (wrongly imo) in SSL0 and NSL2 appears to be in limbo with no distinct ‘atmosphere’ identity. Imagine the atmosphere if NSL2was populated with 6000 noisy, Mancunians complementing 1894 & SS. Two ends are better than one !!” Andrew Hulme

Are they expecting to open the extended North Stand seating for any games this season? Tommy

Hi Andrew, I will pass your thoughts onto the marketing team at the club. Or maybe they’re reading this and can take it from the horse’s mouth. You would think that the club already have slogans thought up given every aspect of the new entertainment district has its name and the branding in the North Stand has been so prominent for so long. You are right though that, as I wrote this week, it really isn’t clear what anybody wants the North Stand to be.

There are going to be thousands of rail seats and new Flexi Gold tickets in the seats so there is an opportunity to make it for singers but it needs to be openly advertised like that pretty quickly if that is what is desired (I’m sure the club would say they want this but they haven’t done much in practice to back this up). There are new hospitality sections though as well and the club will want to find a balance. I’m expecting the noisiest part of the ground to remain the bottom tier of the south stand but it would be nice if they had something new to bounce off.

As for when the North Stand will open, that also remains to be seen. As far as I’m aware it is still expected to be this season, but with the test events that are needed before tickets can be sold there aren’t many games left this season. Having said that, there’s the potential for the last game of the season to be at home against Aston Villa so even one game would be better than nothing.

Has the 115 charges been dropped? Oliver

I hope so Oliver, so we can all move on with our lives and never talk about it again. Sadly, as far as I’m aware we are still waiting for news of the verdict from the hearing that finished 15 months ago. Only Richard Masters can answer if he knew it would take this long when the Premier League laid all of the charges against City in 2023 but it is a pretty sorry state and needs to be carefully managed – especially now City are approaching the home straight of another title race.

City fans won’t want a verdict announced between now and the end of the season because so many people will say City are guilty regardless (they will likely get fined for lack of co-operation as a minimum) and it could distract the team, but Arsenal will be screaming for any help that they can get. As soon as justice is ready, there is an argument that it should be released immediately. That is up to the Premier League though, who have to make sure this situation doesn’t damage their reputation and competition any further.

We don’t want ex Chelsea boss as peps replacement if it happens? Mark Eastwood

What are the chances of Pep leaving and Maresca replacing him as of now ? Ben

An interesting time for two questions about Enzo Maresca to pop up, given there haven’t been anything recent linking him to the City job. Guardiola’s departure remains unknown, with more comments this week about the energy he gets from adapting his team to cope with new challenges in the league. Does that sound like a manager who won’t be seeing out his contract? It’s very possible he is rejuvenated because he knows he only has to keep going until the end of the season and then he is done, but there is plenty to be excited about with this young team and the January signings are already talking about how much Guardiola has improved them.

Maresca is one of the candidates liked and respected by City for his work – Guardiola has given plenty of praise to his effort at Chelsea – but, as the questions suggest, isn’t likely to be a popular choice with supporters. In that sense though, will anyone other than Vincent Kompany be? Replacing Guardiola is in the same ballpark as United replacing Sir Alex Ferguson, even if City feel they are far better prepared for it.

It will take some getting used to for fans, who can’t have the same expectations – they just need a manager who gives them enough for everyone to get behind them. Maresca could be that man – timing may dictate things as much as anything – but patience will be required if he is.

Why does Guardiola so used to very small squad knowing fully well that when injuries set in, the team becomes depleted and they struggle to survive as a result of the absence of key players? Charles

It’s a question that won’t go away for Guardiola, and in the middle of City’s injury crisis this season a lot were saying it very loudly. You could put the injuries in one season down to bad luck, but when it happens in consecutive seasons is it poor planning? There is an argument that the increasing demands of the schedule give needs for an increasingly large squad.

However, City weathered the storm in January and their injury situation now looks a lot better. With a smallish squad, Guardiola is at the point where he is able to rally everybody for the final few months of the season and tell them their contribution will be important whereas with a bigger squad some would be case aside. That is a strategy that has given the manager immense success, so it feels foolish to deviate from it.

Hi, we have a question: What is Bernardo Silva’s future and situation with Manchester City in light of the circulating news about him? Will he leave at the end of the season or stay? Abood

I want to know what’s going about Rodri contract and also our captain Bernie. Ahmad

There’s lots of interest from supporters about whether Bernardo Silva will stay in a way that there really wasn’t last season. The captain’s future is similar to the manager in the sense that it is under lock and key – Silva told us at the beginning of October that he had made a decision so even if it doesn’t change the fact it hasn’t leaked is telling. It would be a surprise if Silva stayed, but City will keep working until the day he does leave to offer him the chance of another year in basically any capacity because of how important he has shown himself to be again this season.

Rodri’s future is also coming into immediate attention. It hasn’t been seen as a priority by either side while the player has been coming back to his best from injury and City will like to think they have lots of credit in the bank from the way they have treated him around last season both with the ACL and with the Ballon d’Or. It’s a niggly one because there will always be links with the top Spanish clubs but for the time being both player and club are comfortable without having anything signed.

Manchester United and Manchester City have had some iconic battles in the transfer window

With Manchester United narrowing the gap on Manchester City in recent months, United may once more be able to compete with their local rivals for elite talent.

More than a decade of underachievement and multiple seasons without Champions League football has somewhat restricted United’s options in the transfer market in recent years.

This has only enabled ‘noisy neighbours’ City to establish themselves as the more appealing Manchester destination for rising stars, as they maintained their dominance over English football. However, considering United’s stature and with the resolution of City’s 115 alleged charges still pending, the momentum may now be shifting, particularly given Michael Carrick’s remarkable start as interim manager.

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Both clubs are expected to compete for Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson at the end of this season. The 23-year-old, valued at around £75million, wishes to have his future resolved before the World Cup kicks off this summer, aware that Forest face potential relegation and that a number of elite clubs are pursuing his services.

United securing Champions League qualification would significantly improve their prospects of signing the England star, although Anderson is yet to decide which club he prefers. The Manchester Evening News now takes a look at the players City and United have competed to sign in recent years and who has come out on top in each instance.

Alexis Sanchez (2018)

Both City and United were keen to sign a frustrated Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal in January 2018. Pep Guardiola sought to recruit the former Barcelona winger but City later said they were unable to match the financial terms presented by their local rivals, ultimately withdrawing from the pursuit.

Sanchez moved to United in a swap deal that saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan head in the opposite direction. Yet the Chilean’s spell at Old Trafford proved largely unsuccessful, managing just five goals in 45 outings before departing for Inter Milan.

Fred (2018)

In the summer of 2018, Brazilian midfielder Fred turned down City and sealed a £47m switch from Shakhtar Donetsk to United. He later disclosed that the opportunity to work under Jose Mourinho proved decisive, having received a personal phone call from the iconic Portuguese boss which persuaded him to pledge his future to the club.

Harry Maguire (2019)

In another setback for City, who had secured back-to-back league titles by the summer of 2019, United pipped them to the signing of Harry Maguire. The Leicester City centre-back’s £80m transfer was and remains the world record fee paid for a defender.

Guardiola admitted City could not splurge such a sum on Maguire, saying: “He’s an excellent, top-class player. We were interested but could not afford it.”

Maguire has endured a difficult seven years at United, having had his performances regularly scrutinised and been stripped of the captaincy. Yet, the Englishman has proven more valuable in recent seasons, despite £80m still being considered a poor use of resources.

Cristiano Ronaldo (2021)

United once again got one over their rivals on transfer deadline day of the 2021 summer window. Reports had indicated Cristiano Ronaldo was close to a switch from Juventus to the Etihad Stadium before executing a dramatic U-turn to rejoin his beloved United after the club submitted an offer.

Ronaldo claimed he followed his heart, with reports saying Sir Alex Ferguson and Rio Ferdinand directly phoned him to persuade him to join United. However, it emerged that City’s interest was only mild, with some reports claiming Guardiola was not interested in the ageing star after Ronaldo was offered to the club by his agent.

Despite a strong first season, the Portuguese legend’s second spell in Manchester ended acrimoniously following a breakdown in relations with Erik ten Hag and club chiefs, suggesting City dodged a bullet.

Jack Grealish (2021)

United were also interested in buying Jack Grealish in 2021 before ultimately signing Jadon Sancho. Grealish was among the Premier League’s most sought-after players at that point and attracted significant attention from several English clubs.

Following a drawn-out transfer saga, City eventually signed the Aston Villa captain that summer for a then-British record fee of £100m. United’s own signings disappointed that season, while Grealish found it difficult to adjust to Guardiola’s requirements in his debut campaign.

He did contribute to City winning an elusive Champions League trophy and the Treble, however, but is currently on loan at Everton.

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Manchester City goalkeeper James Trafford returned to the club in summer but was quickly displaced by Gianluigi Donnarumma

James Trafford said that he had no idea Manchester City were signing Gianluigi Donnarumma when he agreed to move to the Etihad. Trafford could leave after just one season after finding his ambition of regular football for club and country dashed inside a month.

Newcastle were confident making Trafford their No.1 last summer and offered Burnley a fee that the Premier League newcomers would have accepted. However, City had a clause from when they sold the goalkeeper that allowed them to match any bid and they duly did, leaving the decision in Trafford’s hands.

The 23-year-old ultimately opted for a return to the Etihad as his best chance of meeting his ambitions to become a No.1 at the highest level for club and country. However, before the transfer window closed City brought in Donnarumma from PSG and declared the 26-year-old as a signing for the next decade.

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Donnarumma has said he was aware of City’s interest before the summer transfer window started and that contact strengthened after the Club World Cup – a month before Trafford was signed. According to Trafford, while he wasn’t definitively told he would be No.1 when he picked City over Newcastle he wasn’t told about Donnarumma either.

“It wasn’t that, but it wasn’t what happened [either], so it is what it is, it’s football,” he said. “It is what it is, you’ve got to keep grafting every day and the games that come, play as hard as you can. It’s just another experience to add to my career and yeah, it has been good learning.”

Donnarumma instantly came into the team when he signed in September and Trafford has not played a Premier League game since, having to be content with cup competitions for a chance to shine. He has taken his opportunities, making important stops in the Carabao Cup semi-final against Newcastle as well as the FA Cup win over Salford on Saturday.

His lack of game time has put his England place in jeopardy for the World Cup though. Rather than pushing to be No.1, he was left out of the last squad altogether before being belatedly called up when Nick Pope picked up an injury.

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Trafford is trying to make the best of his situation, but did not sound upbeat when he stopped to speak after the Salford game. Having looked to leave City in the January window, he did little to play down the idea that an exit is on the cards for the summer as he admitted that he hadn’t spoken to anybody at England about his hopes of going to the World Cup.

“I haven’t spoken to them [about] if that’s enough, but I play as well as I can and train every day very hard and it’s just down to me. Obviously everyone knows what’s going on with me, so I’ve just got to, whenever I play, play as well as I can.

“I’ve obviously got a contract, so yeah, I don’t know what happens next season. I just know that I’ll just take it a day at a time and try and improve.”

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Our regular Q&A this week looks at Omar Marmoush and James Trafford after their starring roles in midweek as well as the noise around Pep Guardiola

11:00, 07 Feb 2026

There’s no shortage of Manchester City topics to discuss as Pep Guardiola’s men look to compete in four competitions this season after the disappointment of last year. We’ve got every game and press conference covered for you but we also know that there is so much more going on around that.

That’s why we are holding regular Q&A sessions with our chief City writer Simon Bajkowski. The day of the week it comes out on may change depending on what City’s schedule looks like but essentially this is your chance to get an answer on anything you want – simply pop your question here at any time of the week and Simon will pick them all up wrap everything up in one place.

This week takes a look at Omar Marmoush and James Trafford after their starring roles in getting City to the Carabao Cup final, as well as a look at the noise around Pep Guardiola and why all the stories have started to come about.

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What agenda does Pep has against Omar Marmoush? DarlingtineI think pep should start giving Marmoush more playing time. Oyee Benard

I wanted to start with these questions this week, not to upset the commenters but because it is a useful exercise in how quickly things can change. Darlingtine posted his comment after Sunday’s game when Omar Marmoush had been given all of about seven minutes of injury time to make a difference in the Spurs game. The next one came at half-time against Newcastle after the forward’s two goals.

Marmoush was vital to City last season but this year before he went to AFCON I really didn’t think he was anywhere near his best. Being back-up to Erling Haaland is incredibly difficult – just ask Julian Alvarez – and it is almost always a losing cause to be thrust in to fill in for him and expected to show every time why you should be playing. But I didn’t think Marmoush was close to his levels from last season before he went away, however much he wasn’t helped by lack of minutes.

Going away with Egypt has helped him, and he looked fresh and sharp on Wednesday night – something Haaland hasn’t in the calendar year. Play like that and he will get minutes – that is the only agenda Guardiola has. It does throw up an interesting question for Anfield though, because Marmoush is more in form than Haaland but will Guardiola leave his No.9 on the bench?

Our statistics of second half vs first half since 1st January until now has shown weak in game management this is because in first half we score but in second half not and we conceded more, pep can you work on it? KJDWhy is MNC since the beginning of the year has become a first half team? jimvri

This currently feels like the biggest issue with City. They are at least good whenever they play a first half and well below that as soon as they come out for the second. Newcastle was arguably one of the best examples of this, where the two 45s simply didn’t marry up. Guardiola has ideas for why it is happening but it feels like a range of different factors that all rear their heads at different points to cause problems.

City had similar collapses in the games against Fulham and Leeds before Christmas, but I don’t think you can underestimate the fact that Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol have been missing from the heart of the defence. Marc Guehi has been brought in as a leader in the last month and if he gets a foul given against him when Dominic Solanke kicks his leg at Spurs maybe that is enough to stop the rot. It seems like City have too many players who aren’t fully immersed in what Guardiola wants from them because they are new to the squad and, in most cases, young in their careers. That is perfectly acceptable but also difficult because the only cure is experience so basically City need their more senior players back on the pitch if they want a quick fix .

City has spent quite amount of money for players for last season and the current one but results dont tally, why? jimvri

This is an interesting question and a comment that I have seen knocking about in recent weeks: should City be doing better to say they’ve spent about £430m in the last three windows? It is of course down for individuals to decide but does seem to come down to momentum.

If you’d said after last year that City at this point would be in a cup final and well-placed in the three other competitions they can win I think that would have been seen as exactly what was wanted. But because the Premier League is there every week and City’s results have slipped in the last month, that is questioning whether Guardiola’s side should be doing better.

I think they absolutely should be in a title race for the money they have spent and with the existing resources (like Guardiola) they had. If they fall away in the second half of the season and Arsenal run away with the league, that will be disappointing. However, it has been obvious for some time that City aren’t as good as the sum of their parts and most of their signings are not close to their peak yet. If they are able to win a trophy this season, it would be harsh to say that results haven’t lined up with spending.

How does Pep Guardiola plan to address the defensive injuries with the upcoming fixtures? Will Marc Guehi get a chance to start against tough opponents like Liverpool or Arsenal? Mainza Hanyinda

Another question that involves timing. Guehi will almost certainly start at Liverpool after infamously not being involved with the Carabao Cup game, and he was a stabilising presence at Spurs. He obviously can’t face Arsenal in the league cup final but would definitely be in contention for the league game at the Etihad.

Ruben Dias is back in training though and suddenly so is John Stones when people were beginning to wonder if he would ever be seen again. That certainly would have been an Anfield wildcard, but whenever Stones is able to return it certainly strengthens City’s options. Josko Gvardiol may struggle to return this season but Stones, Dias, Guehi, Ake, Khusanov and Alleyne would leave Guardiola suddenly flush with options.

Hi Simon, The speculation in the media about Pep Guardiola’s future in 2026 feels excessive. With the second half of the season being such a decisive period, there is a sense that these rumours may be used to unsettle Manchester City. Is there any indication that rival clubs are deliberately leveraging this narrative to destabilise City? And internally, how does the club view this speculation, and how is it managing the noise around Guardiola’s future during a crucial stage of the season? TJ

Hi TJ, thanks for this question – I feel like it comes up a lot around stories and big games. I can’t speak for everyone in the media and wouldn’t want to speak for everyone in the media, but around Guardiola’s future at the very least I would expect people want the story because it is one of the biggest in football and we all want to be the one to say that we had it first. Ego is the biggest agenda for us as journalists!

People have been saying that Guardiola is off, or is staying, for years and from a journalistic point of view as soon as you get to a point where you are happy and confident that the information you are getting is right you run with it. That is different for everyone, but also as soon as one person does it everyone else will get a phone call from their bosses asking why they haven’t written the story and telling them that they need to pull something together.

The club are treating it all with a pinch of salt. They know it’s going to be a huge story and that there is always going to be some level of noise. At the same time, they would like to control the situation as best they can – as they managed with Guardiola’s arrival and his subsequent renewals. There have been plenty of other years where Guardiola’s future or the charges or anything else have appeared to hang over the squad for at least part of the season, whereas this time you can’t really say that’s the case and the club would point to Guehi and Semenyo arriving to show that they can be future-proofed from any decision Guardiola makes.

After the carabao cup victory over Newcastle, pep praised Trafford and said the club needs 2 great keepers. Will pep try to make him stay in summer? Elliott

Another excellent question. Guardiola would love to keep Trafford as he wants to keep all of his players, but also he is better than most managers at understanding when and why players want to leave – a benefit of someone who had the same career before moving into coaching. Trafford has a lot of friends at the club who will do their best to try and keep him.

At the same time, everyone there will know that his decision to move to City last summer has cost him. In August he had dreams of being England No.1 at the World Cup and now he may not even make Thomas Tuchel’s squad – that would be really hard to take. Both Guardiola and sporting director Hugo Viana have spoken of Gianluigi Donnarumma as a player for the next 10 years at City, and even if it is two then Trafford has to go for his own sake.

Please I want to ask a question about Elliot Anderson is he Manchester City top target in the summer transfer window, because I see news of him too firmly interested in joining Manchester City as well despite interest from other club is this truly happening. Then secondly what other players is Man City board interested in signing in the summer and who are the top targets for the replacement of Pep Guardiola and is he leaving after this season. Thank you. Prince

How many midfielders(6/8) do you think city will sign in the summer if Bernardo and Kovacic leave and is there anyone other than Anderson and Tonali on the list? Max

We covered possible Guardiola replacements last week and so it will be no surprise that City will want one of the best options around when theirs does decide to leave. At the minute, that conversation includes Kompany, Enrique, Alonso, Tuchel, De Zerbi and others but it very much depends on the circumstances of when a decision is made as to who is available at the time and in the best place.

In terms of midfielders, Guardiola certainly did his best to ensure people link Sandro Tonali to City by speaking to him for so long in the middle of the pitch. The manager insisted they share old connections but it certainly put people in the north-east on alert days after Tonali was linked with a shock deadline day move to Arsenal that seemed to have been sparked by his agent.

Elliot Anderson remains top choice in midfield and should be a relatively straightforward deal to do if City are convinced he’s worth the money, and they will likely need another. However, Nico O’Reilly has started to be used as a midfielder again and shown promise so he could take that prospective spot and leave City to focus more on full-backs in the summer window.

This platform is excellent. Kosamu Rosinga

This isn’t a question but it is appreciated. We’ve tried Q&As a number of time down the years but they have never really taken off, I think in part because the mechanism for asking questions has been too clunky and illogical (and if you don’t hear from me again it’s because I’ve been sacked for saying this). I have been enjoying doing these since we started them up again a few months ago so it’s always nice as a journalist if people like reading things that you like writing.

Have a good week, everyone, and keep the questions coming.

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The Carabao Cup Final will see Arsenal v Manchester City at London’s Wembley Stadium this March.