The last time there was so much uncertainty around Manchester City's full-backs, Txiki Begiristain and Khaldoon Al Mubarak did the unthinkable.
With Pep Guardiola tearing his figurative hair out at his options during his first year at the Etihad, his bosses sanctioned a second summer of heavy spending that included a £50million purchase of Kyle Walker that blew far too many minds in football. A then-record fee for a defender brought ridicule from Match of the Day host Gary Lineker, marked comments from then-United manager Jose Mourinho about 'crazy' figures for 'normal players', and even some laughable claims from rival clubs that the move inflated the transfer market.
Of course, Walker will go down as one of the best pound-for-pound signings during Guardiola's time in England, the former Spurs man proving his former manager Mauricio Pochettino and so many others wrong by raising his game further to become an integral part of a side that has since won four of the last five Premier League titles. And the fact that he cost £50m did not force Manchester United, for example, to pay the same fee for Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
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Walker may still have many years to give to the City team but the 31-year-old and fellow full-back Joao Cancelo have found themselves out of favour since the World Cup, with Guardiola preferring either rookie Rico Lewis or a backline consisting solely of centre-backs. With the decision to compensate with Sergio Gomez as a potential Oleksandr Zinchenko replacement not looking like it has paid off, at least one full-back must be on City's shopping list for this summer.
The landscape of the market has been transformed since the 'madness' of the Walker fee though. It may be much more difficult for City to strengthen their weak points this summer than it was back in 2017.
Liverpool and United both have bigger wage bills than City according to 2021/22 financial reports and while Erling Haaland will see the bill rise at the Etihad that may not change the standings because their rivals have also made significant investments. United spent over £200m in the last window and are looking at Harry Kane in the coming summer, while Liverpool are expected to be in the running for the marquee signing of Jude Bellingham this summer.
City also face renewed competition from Chelsea and Arsenal. Todd Boehly has sanctioned £460m of transfers in about six months of ownership in West London, including paying way more than City were ever going to pay Brighton for Marc Cucurella; inventive long-term contracts have certainly caused a storm but also allowed more money to be spent.
And despite being outbid by Chelsea for Mykhailo Mudryk, Arsenal were not content to take their spending for the season beyond £140m with the signing of Leandro Trossard as they look to raid Brighton again with a £70m package for Moises Caicedo.
Such activity would perhaps have Mourinho to comment again, and Guardiola has certainly felt the need recently to bring up the fact that lots of clubs around City are spending a lot more money - particularly when net spend is calculated. At the very least, if and when City do spend a premium this summer as they look to improve in midfield and at full-back, they can expect no shortage of rivals trying to outbid and outwit them in the market.
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