Unlike any other competition in football, the World Cup offers elite clubs the chance to unearth hidden gems that can help push their team to the next level.
While the Qatar World Cup has been different for many reasons, that overall objective has still been achieved. Some top talents who have previously lurked underneath the radar have rose to prominence - looking at you Goncalo Ramos and Cody Gakpo.
However, despite the World Cup being a supermarket for the super-rich, January should not be the time when City make their purchases. Rumours surrounding the Blues' potential January activities have been in short supply in recent weeks.
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RB Leipzig's Josko Gvardiol is the only player who appears to be linked with a move to the Etihad but his performance against Argentina in Tuesday night's semi-final suggests that he perhaps does not constitute City spending £85m on. It would also make little footballing sense to buy another centre-back at an inflated post-World Cup price considering the Blues have Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, John Stones, Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji in their ranks.
Improving on those five men would be impossible. Any full-backs who may have caught the eye in the Middle East are also unneeded at present.
Kyle Walker's stellar performance against Kylian Mbappe proved that he still has plenty to offer. Joao Cancelo remains a star man for the Blues while Sergio Gomez and Rico Lewis are great options in terms of cover.
City's goalkeeper situation remains better than last season with Stefan Ortega a noticeable improvement on Zack Steffen. Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola's options in midfield are still enviable to the rest of the league.
As for the strikers, the Blues could well be in an even stronger position than before the tournament. Julian Alvarez has been sensational for Argentina and his performance in the semi-final this week was superb.
He has comfortably made his way into the first-choice echelons to play alongside Erling Haaland in what is a devilishly good forward line. City have all the ingredients already at their disposal to catch Arsenal and mop up cup success without resorting to a big January buy.
As mentioned above, the January market always sees prices skyrocket, never mind in an unprecedented post-World Cup winter window. Guardiola was smart in last year's mid-season transfer market and he would be wise to follow that same approach again.
No rash purchases were made in January 2022 with the Blues manager biding his time ahead of a sensational summer window which saw City not only improve but make money. Similar restraint must once more be shown.
The table is not ideal but with two games against the Gunners still to come, City are still in a great position to reclaim their crown. Success in the Champions League, FA and Carabao Cups are also on the cards too so the need to join the transfer chaos holds no justification.
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