Too little, too late: Antoine Semenyo signing and Marc Guehi pursuit won't save Man City's title hopes as Pep Guardiola counts cost of dismal run of draws

After a patchy start to the season, City reached the turn of the year in ominously good form. Pep Guardiola's side won eight games in all competitions between November 29 and December 27 - a fantastic run of results that featured a statement victory over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The six-game winning streak in the Premier League was of far greater significance, though, as it saw City cut Arsenal's advantage at the top of the table to just two points.

However, the lead will increase to eight if the Gunners beat Liverpool at the Emirates on Thursday evening - which looks like something of a formality, given the Reds' regression this season.

So, how have City found themselves in the very unusual position of needing Liverpool to win to boost a faltering title tilt?

City rounding out 2025 with a 2-1 win at the City Ground felt hugely significant. Guardiola's side had had to dig deep to defeat Nottingham Forest, with Rayan Cherki's winning goal arriving with just seven minutes of normal time remaining.

There wasn't a doubt in Guardiola's mind that they would have lost that game last season - which only reinforced his belief that his team was back on track after their trophy-less 2024-25 campaign.

"The critical moment changed in the USA at the Club World Cup," the 54-year-old told TNT Sports, referring to City's humiliating 4-3 last-16 loss to Al-Hilal in Orlando in June. "We looked at ourselves and talked and many things changed from there.

"Now, it is a process. When we won a lot of titles at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and here, you had a lot of games of this type. But the body language, the connection of how we are with the fans - they love the keepers, the strikers, the people, because they feel the team wants to do it, want to fight for each other.

"It's more important in football how you suffer, how you defend, accept you're not playing good and can be better and be in the game, otherwise there is no chance. For a long time the team has wanted to do it and it's the last game of the first leg of the season, so it's good to finish with an important three points."

On TNT Sports, Joe Hart called City's victory at Forest a "championship-winning performance", while midfielder Tijjani Reijnders effectively sent a warning to Arsenal.

"We know a lot of clubs suffer here," the Dutch midfielder said. "From what I heard Nottingham Forest at home is always difficult, and I felt it as well today. So, it's a very important win - and we are on the hunt."

And given City's track record of successful pursuits, it was hard not to fear for Mikel Arteta's Arsenal, a side renowned for falling with the finishing line in sight.

However, the title race could be as good as over eight days into the New Year, with City having drawn their first three games of 2026.

After a scoreless stalemate at Sunderland on January 1, City allowed Chelsea to come away from the Etihad with a point three days later, and Brighton followed suit on Wednesday evening. 

Essentially, in less than a week, all of the momentum built up at the tail end of the year had been thrown away, and Guardiola felt the reason for the incredibly damaging draws was very obvious.

"I like a lot of the way we played," the former Barcelona boss told reporters after the Brighton game. "Many new players and good things - I love that.

"But it was quite similar to the second half against Sunderland. Against Chelsea, maybe we had fewer clear chances, but we missed the passes when it was two against one. And so, we didn't score goals. [We are missing] too many clear chances and it's not just one or two players, it’s all the players up front.

"Scoring goals is part of our job when we analyse the game. We played exceptionally well and, in the good moments in the past, [we] always take the chances. [But while] we created a lot of chances in the six yard box, we could not score - and not just one player, everyone. That's why we could not win these games."

However, blaming City's struggles solely on profligacy feels like a clear case of over-simplifying the problem.

Remember, Chelsea fully deserved their draw at the Etihad. Enzo Fernandez's equaliser may not have arrived until the 94th minute but it was just reward for a side that created the only three 'big chances' of the entire game.

As Fabian Hurzeler also pointed out, Brighton were excellent in the first half of Wednesday's game and really should have been ahead before Haaland scored from the penalty spot just before the break.

So, while City boast the second-best defensive record in the Premier League (19 goals conceded in just 21 games), there is an undeniable air of uncertainty surrounding the backline.

Injuries undeniably played their part against Brighton, with both Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias unavailable - along with the perma-crocked John Stones.

It's not in the least bit surprising, then, that City are now seriously considering making a move for Marc Guehi, whose Crystal Palace contract expires at the end of the season.

Eagles boss Oliver Glasner has already made it clear that his captain won't come cheap but City are desperate and, after wasting a significant sum of money on two players that weren't anywhere near ready for rigours of English football last January (Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov), they may well feel that £40m ($54m) is a small price to pay for a proven Premier League performer.

With Semenyo's transfer set to be confirmed in the coming hours, also getting Guehi in the door at some point between now and the close of the winter window would go a long way towards addressing City's issues at either end of the field.

Semenyo's mix of pace, physicality and versatility should add another dimension to City's attack, while Guehi now feels like an absolutely essential addition for a back four that looked makeshift even before the injuries to Gvardiol and Dias because of Guardiola's insistence on converting midfielders into full-backs. Indeed, City have proven vulnerable in transitions all season long (the 5-4 win at Fulham is the most glaring case in point) and the obvious hope is that Rodri's return to full match fitness will eventually rectify that particular problem.

However, while adding Semenyo and Guehi would also significantly boost City's Champions League bid, their Premier League challenge might already be over - and Guardiola knows it too.

The Catalan coach cut a frustrated figure on Wednesday evening, even clashing with Hurzeler at one point, and when asked afterwards about his team winning the league, he replied, "If you don't win games, you cannot think about these things." And certainly not with Arsenal seemingly going from strength to strength at precisely the time we thought they might start exhibiting signs of weakness.

So, while Semenyo and Guehi would be game-changing signings for City, it might actually be a case of too little, too late in terms of the title race.