Jamie Carragher believes Pep Guardiola faces a huge rebuild at Manchester City this summer.
The reigning champions slipped 20 points behind current Premier League leaders Liverpool after Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium.
It was Man City’s eighth league defeat and leaves Guardiola’s side fifth in the Premier League, just outside the Champions League places.
Manchester City spent almost £200m on new signings in January but Carragher believes further reinforcements will be needed in the summer.
The ex-Liverpool and England defender expects Guardiola to sign a new right-back after offloading Kyle Walker to AC Milan and claims even £55m signing Jeremy Doku is not of the level Man City need.
Doku was one of the few positives from Sunday’s defeat to Liverpool but the Belgian produced little final product despite going past Trent Alexander-Arnold multiple times.
With just six Premier League goals over the past two seasons, Doku is yet to convince Carragher he is ‘good enough’ for Man City.
‘I think looking at where Man City need to improve, right-back will be a big area,’ Carragher said on The Overlap with Sky Bet.
‘Watching the game against Liverpool, I think of Doku – he caused Trent problems but he’s not good enough for Man City.
‘Savinho has had a good season and looks a good player but when you think of the wingers like [Leroy] Sane, [Raheem] Sterling and [Riyad] Mahrez. I think they’re lacking real great wide players right now.’
Discussing Man City’s drop-off, ex-England midfielder Paul Scholes added: ‘This season it’s been a real problem keeping clean sheets.
‘The back four has been changing all the time and I’m not sure the goalkeeper has been as good. There’s definitely areas in the team which need looking at.’
Following three defeats in their last four games, Manchester City will hope to get back to winning ways on Wednesday night when they face Tottenham.
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Speaking ahead of the game, Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou tried to put Man City’s drop-off into some perspective.
‘It looks like they’re going through a rough trot at the moment but that’s because of the unbelievable standards they have set since Pep [Guardiola] has been there,’ he said.
‘The fact that they did win four in a row, and the consistency of that four in a row – just the sheer numbers they accumulated in terms of points, goals, wins and just competing on all [fronts] – is an unbelievable and probably unprecedented standard set.
‘It’s only natural that’s never going to continue forever. That’s just not sustainable.
‘If they bounce back next year and win it – which I don’t think anyone in this room could discount – and you say they’ve won five out of six, you’d be going: “They’re still pretty good.”
‘Sometimes these things happen. Injuries – key injuries – and some things that are going against them, sometimes just bring you back to the field.
‘That’s elite sport – it’s just fine margins.’
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