Man City masterclass puts Richard Hughes to shame

Richard Hughes has been at the centre of many conversations regarding Liverpool this season.

Fans questioned his appointment last season after the only player he signed for the Reds was Federico Chiesa.

However, fast forward to the 2025-26 summer transfer window and he broke several Liverpool transfer records and was lauded for having what was expected to be one of the best transfer windows of all time.

Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong are just a few players that the Reds signed in summer with most fans thinking they'd be the best team in the world.

Unfortunately, too much change occurred at once and it's taken over half a season for Arne Slot's men to perform to the standards expected of them.

This caused fans to demand change in January and, thus far, nothing has come to fruition with Manchester City's recent masterclass something that the Anfield outfit could learn from in the future.

Manchester City changed the terms of Antoine Semenyo's transfer to sign Marc Guehi

January has been a rather impressive month for Pep Guardiola with the Spaniard adding both Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi to his ranks.

Both of these Premier League-proven players have been linked with an Anfield switch over the last few months, but, with the recent wage problems that have come to light at Liverpool, the Reds not going for either player seems to make sense.

However, this doesn't mean that fans can't be envious of the talent that City have just signed, especially when it's players of Guehi's and Semenyo's quality.

Much like Liverpool, the Cityzens spent a large chunk of change in summer but due to some impressive last-minute changes, deals for the aforementioned duo were agreed.

A fresh report from The Athletic has outlined exactly how Guardiola managed to get a deal for Guehi over line despite all the money they'd spent earlier in the season.

"It transpired that City’s negotiations for Semenyo were drawn out by a late change in terms, with City agreeing to pay £62.5m spread over 24 months," they wrote.

"That wiggle room may have helped them put the finances in place for Guehi’s transfer fee, wages and agent commission."

Richard Hughes has been shown up by Pep Guardiola after his shortcomings at Liverpool

The fact that Liverpool aren't looking all that likely to sign a new defender in the January transfer window is quite frankly astonishing.

Both Giovanni Leoni and Conor Bradley are going to be out until the end of the season and, with the recent injury history of Joe Gomez, it feels highly improbable that the Englishman will remain injury free.

This would then leave Andy Robertson, Milos Kerkez, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Frimpong as the Reds' only defenders.

Of course, players from other areas of Slot's squad could fill in if and when needed but there's no denying that Liverpool would benefit from bringing in another defender or two.

Granted, Liverpool don't often do business in January due to the lack of time and money there often is halfway through a season.

However, with the Champions League and FA Cup on the line, it feels like Hughes' lack of ambition in the transfer market could easily let the Reds down.

If just one more Liverpool defender goes down with a long-term injury, it'll almost certainly be the end of the Anfield outfit's campaign.