Picture Credit: X

Picture Credit: X

With the closure of the winter transfer window for the 2024-25 edition, teams have completed the process of reinforcing their sides with key acquisitions. Defending champions Manchester City, who already added four renowned names to their squad in recent days, have completed the transfer of Porto midfielder Nico Gonzalez for a colossal sum of £180 million for a four-and-a-half years. As per Transfermarkt, the deal marks the second-biggest spending worldwide in January window history, following Chelsea’s £274 mn in 2023. The deal grabbed a lot of eyes as City didn’t hold back from buying despite facing 115 charges of Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) sanctions.   

Talking about Gonzalez, the Spaniard kicked off his career with Barcelona in 2019 but became part of Porto in July 2023. Appearing for the Portuguese club in 68 games, he has racked up nine goals and laid on nine assists. The 23-year-old was also a member of the Porto squad that won the Portuguese Cup last season. Reacting to his transfer, Gonzalez said he is excited to see himself in England and no club is better than Manchester City to test himself. 

"This is the perfect opportunity for me at this stage of my career," Gonzalez said. He also added, "I am 23 and I want to test myself in England. There's no better club than Manchester City for me to do that.” "Look at the squad they have here - it's unbelievable, full of world-class players. There isn't a footballer in the world who would not want to be part of this set-up," he added.  

City highly unlikely to defend Premier League title

With their 1-5 loss at the hands of Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, in the Sunday game, City were downbeaten and looking to fix the issues in the winter transfer window. The hammering has almost closed the gates for City’s title defense success as they have amassed only 12 wins in 24 games which could earn them only 41 points in the Premier League 2024-25. Discussing their number of defeats in the ongoing competition, it stands at seven. With these numbers, they are holding the fifth spot on the Premier League 2024-25 points table. The defending champions are 15 points behind the table-toppers Liverpool, who have notched up 56 points.