Manchester City are preparing for even more even spending this month.
The Sky Blues have already extended the contracts of Pep Guardiola and Erling Haaland both ranked at no.1 in FourFourTwo's list of the best managers in the world right now and FourFourTwo's list of the best strikers in the world right now while also sanctioning the imminent incomings of Abdukodir Khusanov from Lens, Vitor Reis of Palmeiras plus Eintracht Frankfurt striker Omar Marmoush.
But City are not done just yet and have their eyes firmly set on a midfielder who boasts plenty of Premier League experience and has already worked under Guardiola before.
Manchester City want to bring in a midfielder and have their eyes set on Douglas Luiz
According to the ever-present transfer guru David Ornstein, Manchester City have explored multiple options and are looking at bringing Douglas Luiz back to the club.
Luiz, who never made a competitive appearance for City during his previous spell at the Etihad Stadium, did feature in pre-season under Guardiola. The 26-year-old move to Italy from Aston Villa in the summer.
City would be looking to acquire Luiz on loan until the end of this season, with no obligation to buy but Juventus are keen for a a sale or loan with an obligation to buy. The reigning Premier League champions have struggled in midfield this season following Rodri's ACL injury.
"He would be here if the work permit had been possible," Guardiola said of Luiz ahead of City's meeting with Villa back in 2019. "The work permit was not possible, so loan, loan, and now he's at Aston Villa. I think we have an option to bring him back.
"But sometimes life is like this. We wanted him because in the last season we had a problem in that position because we didn't buy a holding midfielder in the last three or four seasons. Douglas Luiz - we thought about that.
"But with the rules in England with the work permit, it was not possible. So that's why - or I think he would have been here. He played in the pre-season last season in the United States, and he was really good. I think he has the quality to play with us but he could not do that."
In FourFourTwo's view, a short-term deal for Luiz would suit all parties and could be a tidy pick-up for City to help plug their midfield gap. Success in Europe and the FA Cup is still feasible this season.
Manchester City are back in Champions League action on Wednesday as they travel to PSG.
Douglas Luiz move could trigger record-breaking transfer window for City
City prefer to spend in summer transfer windows, with January windows reserved for exceptional circumstances. The champions already look to be surpassing their record spend for a window window, with transfer expert Ben Jacobs telling FourFourTwo exclusively that City are about to smash the figure spent by Premier League clubs overall this time last year.
It was �112 million spent by Premier League clubs last January: now Man City could be on course to surpass that, he said on January 13. The Kusanov deal is done, and it's just pending the formalities; they still would like to add Vitor Reis from Palmeiras. A �29.4m deal has since been confirmed by Sky Sports.
This means that City already have broken their record spend for a January window. 2017/18's summer record of around �200m could well be broken, too, with Marmoush costing around �60-80m on his own.
The Manchester Evening News says that Khusanov could cost �20m, meaning that a �150m figure is possible without adding Luiz to the tally. Should the Brazilian leave Juve for �50m, City would by FourFourTwo's estimates, at least break their window record. With plenty of time left in the window, there's no reason that City couldn't make another splash or two
