Manchester City have a tried-and-tested transfer policy by now, and fans know not to expect much business in January. The idea is that all - or most - business should be done in the summer, and the squad that is created on the back of those dealings should be enough to navigate a season.
Of course, if a deal presents itself, then City will act. However, prices are often inflated in January and history shows that the Blues are reluctant to overspend in the winter window when they can have more control in the summer.
Key players of recent years like Aymeric Laporte, Gabriel Jesus and Julian Alvarez have been purchased in January, while this year City snapped up Argentina youth international Maximo Perrone to take a look at as a potential future prospect. In general, though, City haven't used January to panic buy or drastically alter any long-term plans.
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So it makes sense that this season, there have been no major arrivals, nor is there expected to be in the final two days of the window. City solved their long-term striker issue in the summer by signing Erling Haaland, and the late arrival of Manuel Akanji has proven to be inspired.
City's only question mark in the summer was their left-back dealings, with Aleks Zinchenko allowed to depart with the expectation that Brighton's Marc Cucurella would sign. As it turned out, Brighton wanted too much for Cucurella, who ended up joining free-spending Chelsea for a ridiculous £60m fee.
Sergio Gomez arrived instead, and while the former right-winger has shown promise, he's also failed to challenge for a regular starting spot on the left and has been omitted from the last three matchday squads. Yet Joao Cancelo is out of favour at the moment, and there is a left-back void in Pep Guardiola's squad that centre-back Nathan Ake is having to fill - albeit very well - at the minute.
For such a key position, having Cancelo and Ake - both playing out of position - and an inconsistent Gomez to compete at left-back isn't really a sustainable solution. If City were ever going to dip into the January market, this year would have been a prime opportunity to snap up a left-back.
Except there is a notable lack of quality left-backs on the market at the moment - so when City come to address the issue in the summer, they may walk into familiar problems. Either there will be too few options to pick from, or those that are available will be stupidly overpriced. Cucurella is a prime example of both factors combining, and Chelsea's eye-watering spending spree this month will only inflate prices further.
A look at the left-backs around the Premier League, or those approaching the ends of their contracts around Europe, hardly fills City with confidence. Borussia Dortmund's Raphael Guerriero will be 30 next season and Benfica's Alejandro Grimaldo will be 28. As the highest-profile left-backs out of contract in the summer, City may have to be inventive again to find the next Zinchenko.
Alternatively, they could move for an experienced player with longer to run on their contract, but as Brighton proved last summer, it's a sellers' market when it comes to left-backs, and clubs can ramp up prices. City may have Ake and Cancelo to cover on the left, but know that a specialist on that side would add far more balance to their side.
As they have likely discovered this month, however, there simply aren't that many options out there.
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