Liverpool FC and Arsenal’s £265m transfer spending shows new reality Man City face next season

All of Manchester City’s rivals are strengthening over the summer after watching the Blues win the treble in 2023.

Manchester City rose higher than ever, winning the European Cup for the first time to claim the treble. This opened up the opportunity to win the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup, and the Blues finally got the trophy they had always wanted.

However, did a search online and there were some concerns about the lack of transfer activity at Etihad. Mateo Kovacic has arrived, Ilkay Gundogan is gone and Declan Rice will join Arsenal.

“When we don’t like a deal, we walk away and we don’t panic,” said CEO Ferran Soriano. While Pep Guardiola often reminds fans in the early months of the season that trophies can’t be won anytime soon, City bosses will say transfer windows will not ‘win’ or ‘lose’ in the coming months.

First week of July. Take a look at Man City last season, who started the campaign without Manu Akanji or Sergio Gomez. Both were late to the window, and Akanji in particular proved crucial to winning the treble. City won’t panic over their transfer activity so far.

However, a look around the Premier League shows that other teams are moving faster to strengthen their squads.

Liverpool quickly signed Brighton World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister on an initial deal worth £35m, and now it looks like they have spent the summer close to £100m with the expected appearance from RB Leipzig’s Dominik Szoboszlai.

The Liverpool Echo and others report that the Red Devils will trigger a £60m release clause for winger Szoboszlai to continue rebuilding their attack following the departure of Roberto Firmino.

They will look to avoid a repeat of last season’s difficulties and once again try to challenge for the title. Their early performance in the transfer window suggests they will be looking to pose more of a threat next season after being knocked out of the Champions League, and are willing to splurge to do so. Arsenal finished second with only five points behind Man City last season and know that despite their decline at the end of the season, they are ultimately not too far behind the Blues, and will regret losing six points in two confrontations.

With European football back on their schedule, they also need to add some depth. Kai Havertz has arrived from Chelsea for £65m to provide a replacement for Gabriel Jesus up front, while Declan Rice looks set to join after City are left out of the race.

It will cost £105m including add-ons, so Arsenal will spend at least £170m on their summer rebuild to catch up with City. With Liverpool and Arsenal spending almost £265m on just four players, they are not the only sides looking to become stronger and prevent City from winning the treble again.

Tottenham have spent £40m on James Maddison, while Manchester United will invest £60m on Chelsea’s Mason Mount. Newcastle are set to spend £52m on AC Milan midfielder Sandro Tonali as they prepare for the Champions League.

Chelsea’s lavish and unpredictable problems also continue this summer, with their preferred starting lineup for next season anyone’s guess at this point. Compare that to City’s current £25m spend on Mateo Kovacic – although it would certainly increase if a current player leaves or someone like Josko Gvardiol gets in.

City will not panic, as Soriano has said, although they also expect all of their opponents to improve next season.

Man City is so brilliant, they have been helped by Chelsea, in which especially Spurs and Liverpool have performed quite badly all season. Guardiola has always said that next season will be tougher than last, and early signs from this summer suggest he will be right again in 2023.