Marc Guehi is expected to make his Manchester City debut against Wolves at the weekend.
Guehi sealed his reported £20million transfer from Crystal Palace at the start of the week but could not feature in the Champions League defeat to Bodo/Glimt due to registration rules.
However, with Man City looking shaky at the back in recent games, the England international is likely to be drafted in and possibly at the expense of youngster Max Alleyne after he made two costly errors in Norway.
Pep Guardiola is dealing with a defensive injury crisis at present as Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol and John Stones are all unavailable for selection for the visit of Wolves and beyond.
As a result the Spaniard is delighted the club were able to bring in a player of Guehi’s quality and experience.
“[He’s a] top central defender, played for the national team. I will say my personal thanks to the club,” Guardiola said.
“He is the perfect age for many years, he can play right or left. And him especially because he wanted to choose us.
“The problem we have at the back in the next few months so it’s really important that he is here.”
Our new 1️⃣5️⃣ pic.twitter.com/SZ7pK12Glm
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 19, 2026
A home bow for Guehi is likely to see him partner Abdukodir Khusanov in central defence, while Guardiola said he is unsure whether Matheus Nunes will recover from illness in time to replace former Wolves defender Rayan Ait-Nouri at right-back.
Antoine Semenyo is also expected to return after missing the trip to Bodo. He and Jeremy Doku could be the wing pairing as City aim to put pressure on Arsenal by ending a run of four league games without a win.
Erling Haaland is without an open-play goal since the 3-0 win over West Ham before Christmas, but is still expected to lead the line against Wolves in hope of breaking his barren run.
Predicted Man City XI: Donnarumma; Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly; Rodri, Silva; Semenyo, Cherki, Doku; Haaland.
Injured: Gonzalez, Dias, Gvardiol, Stones, Savinho, Bobb, Kovacic
Doubts: Nunes
Time and date: 3pm GMT on Saturday, January 24, 2026
How to watch: Not on TV in UK
Venue: Etihad Stadium
