5 moves Manchester City need to make in the January transfer window

Manchester City's 2020 report card reads: "must try harder."

Carabao Cup victory aside, the Citizens have endured an underwhelming year. They surrendered the Premier League title with a whimper before blowing their best ever chance of reaching a Champions League final, bowing out to lowly Lyon in the quarter finals.

The rot has continued into the current season as well, with Pep Guardiola's side currently trailing leaders Liverpool by some distance.

2021 needs to be a better year and it all begins with the January transfer window. Here's five moves City should be making next month.

1. Tie down Fernandinho down for one more year

He may be 35 and turning 36 in May, but Fernandinho is still a world class operator.

The truth is City are still somewhat reliant on the timeless Brazilian, making the fact that he will be free to discuss pre-contract agreements with foreign clubs in January a scary prospect.

Guardiola has already indicated he is keen for Fernandinho to stick around and it is now time to put his words into action.

Who knows, maybe he's even got two seasons left in the tank?

2. Extend Kevin De Bruyne's contract

A player of Kevin De Bruyne's indescribable talent should never have only two and half years remaining on his contract.

Even with City looking strangely toothless in attack at times this season, De Bruyne is still leading the Premier League in goal creating actions per 90 minutes at the time of writing.

To put it simply, he remains at the centre of everything City do going forward.

To stave off the unlikely chances of the Belgian departing for a knockdown price in a few years, City should tie him down on a long term deal this January.

3. Make a decision on Oleksandr Zinchenko's future

As 90min told you earlier this month, Oleksandr Zinchenko's City future is uncertain.

While the club do not want to force him out, they are willing to listen to offers for the Ukrainian with Southampton, Leicester and West Ham interested. Wolves - who attempted to sign him back in 2018 - are also in the race.

As Guardiola has clearly decided to back Benjamin Mendy over Zinchenko for some reason, City should look to move the latter on as quick as possible.

They can ill afford any off-field distractions as they seek to close in on the top of the Premier League table.

4. Win the race for Jack Grealish

It's been some time since City made a real statement signing.

They have a great opportunity to change that in January by blowing their rivals out of the water and bringing in a bonafide star in Jack Grealish. Over the past few seasons Grealish has proved himself to be an elite level operator and he would fit in well at the Etihad Stadium.

Manchester United and Liverpool are also thought to be in for the England international and despite Aston Villa's whopping £100m price tag, he could be exactly the player City need to drag them out of their slump.

5. Consider signing a new striker

With Sergio Aguero still recovering from injury, the burden of leading the line for City has fallen to Gabriel Jesus this season.

Many doubt whether he is up to the task of replacing the club's best ever striker permanently. Although he is an effective presser, Jesus underperformed his xG by 3.7 last season, suggesting he may not be clinical enough to step into the Argentine's shoes.

With Aguero likely to depart in the summer when his contract expires, a new striker is a must - even if they are not brought in to directly replace the Brazilian.

Bringing in someone who has the potential to lead the line for years seems to make sense, particularly with City rebuilding. Whether they can sign someone like this during January is another matter.

Still, may as well start negotiations with Borussia Dortmund over the arrival of Erling Haaland early, right?