Manchester City considering bringing star back from Saudi Arabia to turn around their season: report

After suffering a loss at Anfield yesterday, the champions have now been unable to secure a victory in their past seven matches in all competitions. This winless streak marks the longest in Guardiola's career, spanning his time at Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and now Manchester City. The pressure is mounting on the Catalan as he navigates this challenging period.

With several of City's ageing squad looking tired, big changes are expected at the Etihad Stadium in the next couple of transfer windows – with a surprise potentially arriving from Saudi Arabia.

Manchester City are in the market for another midfield schemer

Ranked no.1 in FourFourTwo's list of the best players in the world right now, Rodri's absence through injury has been huge – with the midfielder himself exclusively telling FourFourTwo about how the team can feel exposed without the right kind of protection in front of the defence.

But even ahead of the Spaniard, City have major issues. Bernardo Silva is out of form, Ilkay Gundogan is looking a shadow of the player he was in his first spell with the club and Kevin De Bruyne has been used sparingly of late: all three are over 30 years old, too.

To combat this, Spanish outlet Estadio Deportivo reports that Guardiola's side are looking to save homesick Gabri Veiga from the Saudi Pro League and offer him a lifeline back to Europe.

Veiga was linked with City back in the summer of 2023 while still a Celta Vigo player, but opted to join the many overseas players who moved to the Middle East that summer, to sign for Al Hilal instead.

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Veiga's transfer turned heads, however, as unlike many Europeans fleeing the continent, he was just 21 years old at the time. Toni Kroos infamously blasted the decision as “embarrassing”.

City could not only offer a competitive wage for the Spaniard, they could help to rehabilitate his career and see him back in international reckoning. Veiga would have a point to prove back in European football and may be hungry for the chance to prove some wrong about him.

FourFourTwo understands that Veiga would be more of a Bernardo Silva replacement than an option in Rodri's position. In our opinion, the Spaniard's future is one to watch – but Veiga may not be on the move until the summer, due to Saudi tax laws.

As Jordan Henderson found out when he left Al-Ettifaq, Saudi Arabia have a flat income tax rate of 20 per cent unless players stay in the Gulf State for two years. Veiga moved to the Saudi Pro League in August 2023.

The Galician midfielder is worth €25 million, as per Transfermarkt. City take on Nottingham Forest this Wednesday when Premier League action returns.