Manchester City transfer news: Pep Guardiola has no plans to strengthen as he awaits Gabriel Jesus arrival

Guardiola believes he can have a bigger impact by filling his squad with confidence over the Christmas period, though he does have transfer targets in his mind that will hold to summer

Gabriel Jesus will join Manchester City in January as Pep Guardiola holds off on more signings (Getty)

Pep Guardiola today announced that he saw no reason why Manchester City would enter the January transfer market, saying he was happy with the players he has.

The Manchester City manager pointed out that Gabriel Jesus, the 19-year-old striker he signed from Palmeiras, would be arriving in Manchester next month. There have been suggestions that Guardiola would want to overhaul the full-backs but he said that his priority was maintaining his squad’s confidence over the Christmas fixtures.

“I am happy with what we have and I have confidence in the players,” he said. “I am not denying that we are looking for something, I am not saying that. But right now I don’t think that is going to happen. We have Jesus coming, Christmas is coming. We have another striker so I am happy.”

It is, however, defensively where Manchester City are most obviously weakest under Guardiola. His three senior full-backs – Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna – are all over 30. Zabaleta, who scored in this month’s 2-0 win over Watford that saw City keep a clean sheet at the Etihad Stadium for the first time since September 17, is due to return to training tomorrow, having injured himself in the 2-1 victory over Arsenal. However, he is unlikely to be fit enough to face Hull on Boxing Day.

As he approaches his first season without a winter break, Guardiola argued that Manchester City had been rather more solid defensively than people gave them credit for. “We conceded two chances against Watford and against Arsenal there was the goal after four minutes and a cross in the second half that Olivier Giroud did not connect so well with.

“Against Chelsea (a game they lost 3-1) they did not create absolutely anything until their goal. When you dominate so clearly and you have problems scoring goals, it is so important to be solid in the middle and at the back.”

Asked how he was looking forward to his first Boxing Day match, Guardiola smiled and said: “I cannot sleep”. He added: “This is my first year here and people tell me that at Christmas you have be focused, focused because at home you celebrate with dinner and lunch but now we have to be prepared.”

On the surface, Hull is not the most testing introduction to Boxing Day football – Manchester City were last beaten in this corner of Yorkshire in 1988. However, Mike Phelan’s side has not lost at the KC Stadium since October and, after watching a series of DVDs of games between the two sides, Guardiola professed himself impressed with them.

Guardiola believes he needs to fill his players with confidence rather than replace them (Getty)

“I saw many of their games and they are a special team who tried to play more here than other teams in the Premier League. I spoke to Silva and others and they talked to be about what it means to be playing Hull City on Boxing Day. What I have learned in my short time here is that the gap between the first 10 and the last 10 is not a big difference. That is why it is difficult to win.”