Manchester City are broken.
It's late March, we keep waiting for them to turn the corner, and it hasn't happened.
This collection of players, as managed by Pep Guardiola, can't consistently play at a high level. They've had stretches when they've found enjoyment by scoring goals, but then provided even more joy to their opponents on the other end. More recently, it has been really hard to score against them but even harder for them to score against opponents.
One way to look at this, on a broader scale, is that it's the end of an era. City won four straight Premier League titles. They won the treble in 2023. They've won the league in six of the past seven seasons. And their average point total across those title-winning campaigns was 93 points. Only three other teams in the history of the Premier League have accumulated more than 93 points -- in a season.
To be that dominant, during the height of the Premier League's global financial dominance, you might think they would have to sacrifice the future. If they cared about the long term, then they couldn't average 93 points per title-winning season because that can't happen without doing everything to maximize the here and now. Except, that's not how it works when City is backed by comparatively unlimited funding.
Since summer 2022, Manchester City have signed 18 new players. They've tried to win now and keep winning in the future. But beyond the injuries and aging club stalwarts, the biggest explanation for City's struggles this season is that they've signed the wrong players. When too many signings are flops, it will catch up with you.
So, ahead of the FA Cup quarterfinals featuring Man City -- live on ESPN+ this Saturday and Sunday -- let's look at those 18 signings. We'll look at their ages and fees at the time of the transfers, group them by type, and then we'll see if we can figure out where, and how, it went wrong.
