Manchester City secured an important 2-1 victory over Burnley on Monday to start 2017 with three points in the Premier League.

Pep Guardiola’s suffered a few disappointing defeats to Chelsea, Leicester, and Liverpool in December, yet goals from Gael Clichy and Sergio Aguero clinched a vital win for City, who remain fourth in the table as a result.

And, given that league leaders Chelsea lost 2-0 at Tottenham on Wednesday night, it means that Guardiola’s side are just seven points adrift of Antonio Conte’s Blues going into the final 18 games of the campaign.

City’s win over Burnley was their 13th victory of the season, and they’ll go into their FA Cup third round clash with West Ham this evening confident of booking their spot in the fourth round of a competition they won back in 2011.

Nevertheless, their frustrating December could see Guardiola dip into the transfer window this month in a bid to sustain a title challenge in the second half of the season.

City have had varying success in the winter window since it was formally introduced in 2003, and here are their TOP THREE January signings over the course of the last 14 years…

Craig Bellamy

Welshman Craig Bellamy secured a £14 million move to Manchester City in January 2009, and went on to have a big impact in his first 18 months at the Etihad Stadium.

The forward appeared 11 times in the second half of the 2008/09 campaign, and netted four times for Mark Hughes’ side, including on his debut in their victory over Newcastle on January 28.

His first, and in the end only, full season in Manchester was also impressive, as he scored 11 goals in 40 appearances for City to help them to a fifth place finish in the Premier League.

Although Bellamy then went on loan to Cardiff in the 2010/11 campaign, and then subsequently left for Liverpool, his 15 goals in 51 matches were invaluable to City before Roberto Mancini’s appointment ended his spell in Manchester.

Nigel de Jong

Another one of Mark Hughes’ better signings was Nigel de Jong, who moved to Manchester City from Hamburg back in January 2009.

And it turned out to be a very shrewd purchase from Hughes, as the Dutch international went on to make 137 appearances for City over a three-year spell at the Etihad, winning the Premier League title in 2012, and the FA Cup the year before.

De Jong was a hard-hitting, battling central midfielder who got around the pitch well and wasn’t afraid to stick a foot in, and it almost came back to bite him when he somehow didn’t get sent off in the 2010 World Cup final for kicking Xabi Alonso in the chest.

Since he left City in 2012, the 32-year-old spent four years at AC Milan before a short spell at LA Galaxy, only to return to Europe with Turkish giants Galatasaray last summer.

Edin Dzeko

Arguably Manchester City’s best January signing was Edin Dzeko, who joined the club in January 2011 for £27 million.

A lot of money yes, but the Bosnian international certainly repaid the majority of that with 72 goals in 189 games for City, including that crucial equaliser against QPR on the final day of the 2011/12 season, which set the way for Sergio Aguero to net the winner and thus secure the title for Roberto Mancini’s side.

His best goal-scoring season was in 2013/14, where his 26 goals in 48 matches helped City secure a second Premier League crown, as well as the League Cup title.

He was not as prolific as Aguero, but Dzeko certainly gave City another option up top throughout his time in England, and was difficult to defend against when he was at his best.

The striker left City in 2015 to sign for Italian giants Roma, where he has netted 28 times in 64 appearances, including 18 in 25 matches this season.