Why Man City’s New Signings Can’t Play Against Galatasaray

Pep Guardiola will be without his newbies for Wednesday night’s game.

Marc Guéhi will have to wait to make his Champions League debut. | Marc Atkins/Getty Images

A woeful conclusion to 2024 convinced Manchester City to almost outspend the entire Premier League during last year’s January transfer window.

The Cityzens splurged £180 million ($247.8 million) on four players, of which only one (Omar Marmoush) made a discernible impact as Pep Guardiola’s side steadied, but ultimately ended the 2024–25 season without a trophy.

The situation certainly wasn’t as severe for the once-perennial Premier League champions entering 2026, even if they’ve failed to boast a level of imperiousness comparable with their outstanding teams of recent times.

Three consecutive league draws to start the year pointed towards a lack of ruthlessness on the field, but City certainly can’t be accused of acting that way off it. They’ve seized a market opportunity to snatch Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth, and didn’t allow Liverpool to have a second bite of the cherry for Marc Guéhi.

Guéhi’s addition has helped mitigate a nightmare injury crisis in defence, while Semenyo’s City career has started brightly. Both, though, won’t be able to feature on Wednesday night, as City conclude the league phase of their Champions League campaign at home to Galatasaray.

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Why Man City’s New Signings Can’t Play vs. Galatasaray

Semenyo’s impressive start at Man City continued on Saturday. | Marc Atkins/Getty Images

As Guéhi and Semenyo were signed by Manchester City this month, they are ineligible to feature in the league phase.

City, like all 36 competing clubs, had to submit their final A-List squad (up to 25 players) for the league phase back in September. Squad adjustments cannot be made until the knockout phase, but that does mean Semenyo and Guéhi could make their Champions League debuts at some point this season.

UEFA rules stipulate that clubs can add a maximum of three players to their A-List before February 5.

Sitting 11th in the table, City are currently in a play-off spot. Victory over Galatasaray on Wednesday would give them a chance of making the top eight and thus qualifying automatically for the round of 16. However, with five teams above and two teams below also on 13 points, they’ll need plenty of results to go their way to sneak into eighth or higher.

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How Could Pep Guardiola Replace Semenyo and Guéhi?

Jérémy Doku was an unused substitute against Bodø/Glimt last week. | Marc Atkins/Getty Images

Both players were signed before last week’s trip to Bodø/Glimt, but neither, as we’ve outlined, was able to travel to the Arctic Circle.

For what was a disastrous trip, Guardiola picked youngster Max Alleyne alongside Abdukodir Khusanov at centre back, and opted for a winger-less approach in attack. Jérémy Doku was an unused substitute, but he did feature off the bench at the weekend.

Doku is expected to return to the starting lineup on Wednesday night, as will Erling Haaland. However, Marmoush’s performance on Saturday could see him keep his place. If Doku starts wide left, either Phil Foden or Rayan Cherki will likely be tasked with drifting in from the right. Savinho’s a natural fit, but he‘s currently out injured.

At centre back, Alleyne’s struggles in the Manchester derby and against Bodø means Nathan Aké will likely partner Khusanov at the Etihad.

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