Manchester City look to be getting back to somewhere near their best following a 5-0 thumping of West Ham in the FA Cup last weekend.

Pep Guardiola’s side ran riot at the London Stadium to book their place in round four, with goals from Yaya Toure, David Silva, Sergio Aguero, and John Stones, as well as an own goal from Havard Nordtveit, helping them ease to victory over the Hammers.

City will face either Crystal Palace or Bolton in the next round, but before then they have two crucial Premier League matches against Everton and Tottenham to contend with in a bid to get back in the title race.

Chelsea’s defeat to Spurs last week means that Guardiola’s men are just seven points adrift of Antonio Conte’s men at the top with 18 games to play, and, with four wins from their last five, City will be confident of bridging that gap over the coming weeks.

Nonetheless, many still feel that Guardiola needs to bring in more reinforcements in the January transfer window to sustain a title challenge until May, so here are TWO midfielders that would be perfect for City in January…

Mahmoud Dahoud

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IjTcWUnomQ&t=2s

21-year-old midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud broke into the Borussia Monchengladbach team at the start of last season, and has gone from strength to strength ever since.

The German, who made his senior debut last year, netted five times in 36 Bundesliga games last time out to help the club to a fourth place finish in the top-flight.

However, this season has been a struggle for Monchengladbach, with the club 14th in the Bundesliga and just three points clear of the relegation zone, and that has been reflected a bit in Dahoud’s performances, with the young midfielder having only netted once in 18 games thus far.

Nonetheless, at 21 years of age, Dahoud is still evolving and has a huge future ahead of him and, with both Liverpool and Manchester City interested, it’s just a matter of time before he moves on, especially if Monchengladbach continue to struggle.

City have quite an ageing squad, so bringing a young starlet in like Dahoud this month could give everyone a huge boost, as the midfielder is a player for both the present and indeed the future.

Ivan Rakitic

There have been murmurings about Ivan Rakitic’s future at Barcelona in recent weeks and, although it doesn’t look likely that he’ll leave the Nou Camp, he’d certainly be perfect for Manchester City.

The 28-year-old has been at the heart of the Barca midfield ever since he moved there from Sevilla in 2014, yet this season has seen his game time reduce slightly, starting just ten of their 17 La Liga games thus far.

Rakitic didn’t even make the bench for their 1-1 draw in Villarreal on Sunday, and this has increased speculation that he may leave the club – City have already been linked with the Croatian international should he want a move.

City could really do with greater midfield depth, especially given Yaya Toure’s uncertain future, Ilkay Gundagon’s long-term injury, and Fernandinho’s recurrent suspensions, so Rakitic could be the man to help stabilise the midfield for the rest of the season and beyond.