After a blistering start to the season it's fair to say that Manchester City's form has somewhat dropped off. The season began with 10 straight wins in all competitions, and the general consensus was that Guardiola's team were going to win the Premier League at a canter.
Fast-forward 11 weeks and the Spaniard's side seem to have lost their way. In fact, they've lost their way to such an extent that they now find themselves seven points from the summit of the Premier League. This is in no small part down to the resurgence of Antonio Conte's Chelsea, however points dropped at home against Southampton, Everton and Middlesbrough haven't done City any favours.
The Guardiola philosophy is fully in place at the Etihad, but the question remains - does the Catalan have the players at his disposal to implement this style of play effectively? Luckily for Pep there's an opportunity to improve the squad in the near future.
Having already confirmed that promising Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus will join at the turn of the year, where else do City need to strengthen during the January transfer window?
The goalkeeper
It seemed as though the first thing on Guardiola's to-do list when he took over at the Etihad was to replace fan favourite Joe Hart. Not only was he looking for a new number one, he wanted Hart out of the club. Just a couple of weeks into the season Hart was on his way to Torino, albeit on loan, and Claudio Bravo was brought in as his replacement.
So far this decision has not proved a particularly popular, or fruitful, one. Bravo has made a number of errors in high-profile games, and questions are being asked as to whether he's up to the task of being a Premier League goalkeeper. There's even been some recent murmurs about Bravo himself being unhappy in Manchester and wanting to return to Spain.
So what are the options for City? Well, there is an arrangement with Real Sociedad regarding their current number one Geronimo Rulli. City actually purchased the keeper from Real Maldonado in the summer, however he was sold straight on to Sociedad with a buy-back clause in his contract.
Rulli is very highly regarded in Spain and his home country, Argentina, but it seems very unlikely that Guardiola will opt to bring in another goalkeeper right now. However, do expect Rulli to turn up at the Etihad within the next couple of years.
The full-backs
It was a shock to many that the one area of the squad that Guardiola didn't freshen up in the summer was the full-backs. There are currently four recognised senior full-backs at the club - Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna, Aleksander Kolarov and Gael Clichy. Although each of them is vastly experienced and a seasoned Premier League defender, they're also all entering the twilight of their careers.
There's been a lot of noise in the media in the last week or so linking Tottenham's Danny Rose with a move to Manchester, and although both clubs involved have denied it Rose does seem like a perfect fit in this City system.
Central defensive issues
The centre of the defence has hardly looked solid so far this season either. With captain Vincent Kompany inevitably injured, and summer signing John Stones yet to make a positive impact, City have recently been deploying an ageing left-back (Kolarov) as a central defender.
The most likely and potentially best solution for City would be to give Southampton a blank cheque in exchange for Virgil Van Dijk. The bookmakers think it's unlikely that Van Dijk will be on the move in January, and they are offering odds that are reflective of that. However, if he is, City are considered his most likely destination.
Squad depth
Saying that a squad that's had the best part of £200m spent on it in the last couple of years lacks depth sounds silly, but the recent fixture against Arsenal shows that it does. For this fixture City were missing a few key players such as Kompany, Fernandinho, Gundogan and Sergio Aguero. This meant they had a to field a team that excluding Leroy Sane and the aforementioned Bravo, looked remarkably like a lacklustre Manuel Pellegrini XI from last season.
Starting with Fernando in the centre of the park and having to call for Jesus Navas from the bench late on shows that when hit with a couple of key injuries or suspensions, City's squad is only marginally improved from last season.
Will Gabriel Jesus make an impact?
2016 has been quite a year for Gabriel Jesus. He established himself as a key figure in the Palmeiras team that topped the Brasileiro Serie A, won the Olympics with Brazil, made his debut and scored for the Brazilian senior side, all on the way to earning himself a big-money move to the Premier League.
What Manchester City have got for their £27m is a whole lot of potential. Jesus, just as every young Brazilian is, has been touted as the next Ronaldo; to be fair, even the great striker himself has made the comparison.
If Jesus is the next Ronaldo then City have absolutely got themselves a bargain here, but for now it remains to be seen whether he'll play much of a part in the second half of the season.
