Pep Guardiola says Manchester City will not spend £100 million in their search for a new midfielder, and has warned his employers to be "quick and efficient" if they want to beat Real Madrid and Barcelona to the world's best players.
City have been chasing their tails since missing out on signing Jorginho in the summer, and it now appears unlikely that another key target, Ajax's Frenkie De Jong, will be moving to the Etihad Stadium.
The Premier League champions knew they would not be able to sign De Jong in January but were hopeful of bringing him in next summer, and at the end of 2018 they had been confident of beating off interest from Europe's leading clubs.