Manchester City has spent more than $500 million over the past 12 months to overhaul an aging squad in a bid to regain the team’s status as the best in England.On current evidence, it won’t be a quick fix.A 2-0 derby loss at Manchester United on Saturday was followed by a surprising 3-1 defeat at Bodø/Glimt in the Champions League on Tuesday. Both matches exposed the deficiencies in City’s squad despite the club’s remarkable spending spree that has continued in January with the arrival of Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi.Sure, injuries aren’t helping. Pep Guardiola has, for example, been robbed of his entire first-choice defense, with center backs Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol and John Stones currently injured.Yet, there are still flaws.There’s still no real backup to striker Erling Haaland, who might be showing the effects of barely missing a game. He has scored one goal in his last eight matches — and that was a penalty.Despite all the arrivals, City hasn’t signed a right back to replace Kyle Walker so has been relying on midfielder Matheus Nunes to fill in there. Nunes has done a good job — he is one of City’s most improved players — but is unlikely to be the long-term solution.Guardiola’s decision to play virtually the same team for the final weeks of 2025 also highlighted his lack of faith in his back-ups, some of whom — like Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri, for example — were bought as part of the expensive rebuild.It all means City’s home match against a last-place Wolverhampton team with just one win all season in the Premier League is no longer a gimme. How could it be given City’s performances over the last week that might rank as among the worst in Guardiola’s decade at the club?While City has won just two of its last seven matches in all competitions, Wolves is improving and unbeaten in its last five matches.City starts the league’s 23rd round of games in second place and seven points behind Arsenal, which — in drawing its last two league games against Liverpool and Nottingham Forest — has failed to take full advantage of City’s recent issues.On Sunday, Arsenal hosts Manchester United, which will look to back up its impressive performance against City and is again likely to play on the counterattack at Emirates Stadium.Third-place Aston Villa, whic …
