Manchester City Squad Depth Could Add Cohesion And Camaraderie In Champions League Quest

March 2022 feels like the first in a while that suggestions of a Manchester City quadruple aren’t being put to Pep Guardiola at this stage of a season.

But the makeup of the City squad this year—slightly thinner than in previous seasons but still chock-full of quality—may give them the best chance yet to win the big continental trophy among the four that has so far eluded them.

Jack Grealish was their only major first-team signing of the summer. In recent years the club have signed more players for their youth team (or numerous feeder clubs) than they have for their first team.

A striker was expected to arrive, but none did. In fact, the player who could have regularly operated in the central role, Ferran Torres, left for Barcelona in January.

The $135 million spent on Grealish was a rare splash in the market. City normally limit themselves to expensive but not extravagant signings.

As the Englishman was the only major first-team arrival in the summer of 2021, they may have felt it was worth making one of the most talented homegrown attacking midfielders their record transfer.

This, combined with the departures of Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia, and later, Torres, to Barcelona, means their squad is perhaps tighter and more close-knit than ever before.

Every player will feel they are able to make a contribution and play a part in any success, and this will naturally lead to better morale among the squad and more acceptance of rotation.

Other than 2020, when Liverpool interrupted City’s recent dominance in the Premier League, the club have regularly been competing at the business end of every competition into the final months of the season. Their unrivalled strength in depth has played a big part in this.

In 2019 they became the first men’s team to lift the three major domestic trophies on offer in the same season, securing a historic Premier League, FA Cup, and EFL Cup treble.

Prior to this season City had won the EFL Cup (currently the Carabao Cup) in six of the past eight seasons and had won the previous four editions. This competition could be seen as the biggest test of a team’s reserves, so it’s no surprise City have dominated it.

Following their FA Cup win in 2019, they have reached at least the semi-finals every year since, and remain in this year’s tournament.

They have also won the Premier League in three of the last four seasons and currently sit at the top of the table in 2022 with nine games to go.

One title they are yet to win is the Champions League. The European Cup. But the tight-knit makeup of Guardiola’s squad this year could give them their best chance yet.

City reached the final for the first time ever last year, losing out to fellow Premier League side Chelsea and a solitary goal from Kai Havertz.

Their previous best finish in the tournament was a semi-final in 2016 in Manuel Pellegrini’s final season managing the club before Guardiola took over.

They are in the quarter-finals again this time around and will face one of Europe’s toughest nuts to crack—Atletico Madrid.

Diego Simeone’s side are a more extreme example of how camaraderie within the squad combined with a defined gameplan can help a team perform above expectations in Europe.

If Guardiola is able to develop a similar mentality alongside the quality of players at his disposal, then it’s difficult to look past them in this season’s tournament.

Liverpool stand in City’s way in the FA Cup and are also just a point behind them in the Premier League. The addition of Luis Diaz to Jurgen Klopp’s side has vastly improved Liverpool’s depth in one fell swoop, and they might be the only side, or at least the only English side, who could match City for the combination of mentality and quality they seek.

Chelsea also have a strong squad, and though it hasn’t performed as well as many predicted in the league, they remain in the FA Cup and Champions League, so could also pose a threat to City as they proved they can by defeating them in last season’s Champions League final.

Guardiola’s squad is far from threadbare, and the youngsters getting minutes here and there are highly rated. With Kayky himself costing $12 million not including potential add-ons.

But this is one of the first occasions where City’s squad feels more practical than it does luxurious. There are players who can fill-in in multiple positions and world-class performers throughout.

This season City were knocked out in Round 4 of the EFL Cup. This wasn’t necessarily anything to do with a lack of squad depth—they had a reasonably strong team out for their defeat on penalties to West Ham—but it may serve as a convenient narrative of putting squad cohesion and camaraderie before the Carabao.

They face strong challenges on all fronts, but remain favourites for the two big trophies—the Premier League and Champions League.