Manchester City haven't had the need to shop in the bargain bucket in recent years but they recently proved they're not averse to a good deal when they can find one.
City didn't go into the summer planning to buy a centre-back and appeared to have little intention of doing so with a week remaining of the window. Yet, after being given a warning on how light they could be when John Stones and Nathan Ake briefly joined Aymeric Laporte on the sidelines, they moved to bring in some reinforcements.
In what could well be the bargain of the summer (other than Erling Haaland, of course) the Blues added Manuel Akanji to Pep Guardiola's squad for a mere £15million. Just three games in and the centre-back has seamlessly fitted into the side and looks to be very smart piece of recruitment.
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The cheap addition shows City will pounce on opportunities and steal themselves a deal every now and then, which could be useful to know ahead of next summer. There are a whole lot of quality players who are currently set to be available on free deals when their contracts expire in 2023, some of which should certainly pique the Blues' interest.
After City's excellent window you could be forgiven for wondering where City can even improve their squad but one area that may need some attention next year is midfield. Kalvin Phillips was brought in this summer to replace Fernandinho but has struggled with injuries so far and it remains to be seen if he will adapt to life at City. Bernardo Silva may well look to return to mainland Europe again after being unsuccessful the last two years and Ilkay Gundogan's contract is up in 2023 as well, with a renewal not a foregone conclusion.
So there is a foreseeable scenario in which Guardiola needs midfield enforcements once more next year and there are some very intriguing possibilities in the Bosman market. One of which, Houssem Aouar, Guardiola is already a big fan of.
The Blues have long been linked with the Frenchman, who has been one of Ligue 1's best players for years now, making over 200 appearances for Lyon - with 40 goals and 35 assists to his name - and has had several great displays in the Champions League.
City have experienced first-hand just how good Aouar is as he has come up against them three times and not lost once. The Frenchman played a key part in the 2-1 win and 2-2 draw against City in the group stages in 2018 and then grabbed two assists when Lyon shockingly dumped Guardiola's side out in the quarter-finals in 2020.
"Houssem Aouar is a very good player, he is incredible," Guardiola said of Auouar back in 2018. "We talk a lot about Ndombele, but Aouar is also excellent. He's always very calm with the ball at his feet, with an excellent technical quality. Lyon really has a very good team. There are young people full of quality and I think the team is in place tactically."
Getting a player of Auoar's quality on a free certainly would be a coup but he isn't the only one City could have their eyes on. Youri Tielemans, Jorginho, N'Golo Kante, former City man Douglas Luiz, Konrad Laimer and even legendary Real Madrid duo Toni Kroos and Luka Modric all currently have contracts that expire in 2023.
Of course, some of those options are more realistic than others but it goes to show there is some real quality to be had in the bargain bucket and City may do well to have themselves a look.
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