2022–23 Premier League Champions and treble winners, Manchester City are still one of the teams no one will want to meet next season, apart from Arsenal, of course.
The Citizens’ success last season, lifting the treble, must have made people see them for who they are: imperious under Pep Guardiola.
Although there’s the Erling Haaland factor, looking at Guardiola’s style, he doesn’t solely depend on a sharp striker; he is also used to having a strong midfield he can rely on to dominate his opponents.
Like last season, Pep could effectively count on Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, IIkay Gundogan, and Rodrigo in midfield, as well as John Stones, who delivered. The above players had to find a way to maintain possession and find ways to pass the ball to Haaland, and yes, they did to make him the top scorer in the Premier League in 2022–2023.
However, looking forward to the 2023–2024 season, Manchester City’s midfield are a bit “weakened” after losing Gundogan to Barcelona, and according to reports, Bernardo Silva is on his way out of City. These exits (or potential exits) leave the city less strong. City have signed Mateo Kovacic, but they need more midfield reinforcement. Guardiola needs to sign another top midfielder; he was keen to sign Declan Rice, but Mikel Arteta beat him to that deal. The Citizens may not agree, but in a way, their midfield is in danger, keeping in mind that Kevin De Bruyne is an injury-prone player (in fact, he may not be fit when the season starts).
Arsenal now looks superior compared to Manchester City, even before the 2023–2024 season. Arteta would have tried to look for his own Haaland, but he knows he needs to strengthen his engine room first. He has strengthened his midfield with highly talented players; Havertz and Rice have already joined (and there’s still one more midfield deal to be closed). A Rice-Havertz-Odegaard midfield set-up is imperious and could be unmatched if a deal for Romeo Lavia or Aurelien Tchouameni is closed as well.
In Declan Rice, Mikel Arteta has signed the top midfielder in the Premier League; if Odegaard can be as good as last term and Havertz can rediscover himself, Man City’s midfield will be second to Arsenal’s.
If you look at every top team in the PL this summer, reinforcing the midfield has been prioritized. The league will be won in the midfield, and we can trust Arteta’s engine room to be the best.
COYG!
Daniel O
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