How do you compete with that?
Manchester City lost Leroy Sané to injury at the weekend when Cardiff's Joe Bennett left a nasty tackle on the winger. He is estimated to be ruled out for around four weeks.
Gabriel Jesus is also injured, after he sustained a knee injury against Crystal Palace a few weeks back and won't be back for a similar period of time.
This leaves City with just Sergio Agüero, Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva as their only fit attackers after they decided against going all out for Alexis Sánchez. It's not a bad front three by any stretch of the imagination, but beyond them City are lacking attacking options with Sané and Jesus out.
It was reported today that they have made a late bid for Riyad Mahrez in a bid to add attacking depth to their squad. Given how little time remains in this January window, Leicester will demand big bucks from City if they are to sell their most prized asset.
https://twitter.com/JPercyTelegraph/status/958357542794645504
City's ability to make this sort of bid when one of their wingers gets injured has upset a few fans. And they raise a fair point.
https://twitter.com/wood10_/status/958359541116231680
https://twitter.com/ussoccerfeed/status/958362275345260545
https://twitter.com/RussellHartnell/status/958374885566439424
https://twitter.com/DailyCannon/status/958359361893564416
https://twitter.com/ArdentRedDevil/status/958385071605493760
It's a fair point too; for all Pep Guardiola has done to transform the City team into a near unstoppable force, splashing almost £70m on a player who will probably be demoted to the bench upon Sané's return does him no favours in trying to shed the 'chequebook manager' tag.
You'd think Guardiola would see this as a chance to give Phil Foden, Brahim Diaz and more game time. The two promising youngsters have been on the fringes this season and shown glimpses of their talent in the few chances they have had.
Of course, it's not the first time City have panicked in January because of a key player getting injured.
https://twitter.com/eaamalyon/status/958379713411665923
Mahrez has reportedly handed in a transfer request since reports of Man City's bid broke, and such a huge bid will be tempting to Leicester. However, it's still unlikely that the Foxes will sell
Mahrez to City with so little time to replace him.
