Man City Women boss Gareth Taylor on new signings, Chloe Kelly’s future and reports linking him with another job

Amid much transfer activity and speculation, Gareth Taylor has assured that the goals for Man City Women remain the same.

After losing two of the last three before the winter break, City sit in second place in the WSL, six points adrift of leaders Chelsea.

Reflecting on their last WSL match, a disappointing loss to Everton, Taylor admits: “We were kind of scraping over the line a little bit, quite a lot of injuries and we needed that break if we’re really honest.

“Sometimes you don’t really want to go into a break but I felt like that we really needed that one and it gave us opportunity to get potentially new signings in Rebecca and then obviously a chance to maybe get some of the players back and seeing Viv back at the weekend was good.”

City returned to action with an FA Cup victory over Ipswich last weekend. Back to winning ways, Taylor reflected: “I think there was enough in that game for us to be kind of safe in the knowledge that we’re moving things in the right direction.”

The win over Ipswich means that City remain competitive in all four competitions. Asked about the importance of winning a trophy, their manager responded: “Well it’s what we want to do, of course it is. That’s what we’re here for, to win. We know how difficult that is to achieve because there have been many other teams that want to do that as well.

“We are still in all of the competitions, some work to do, but we give ourselves a real chance.”

As they look to bolster their trophy-chasing efforts, City have already been active in the January transfer window, signing German defender Rebecca Knaak.

However, it is not likely that their transfer activity will stop there, although Taylor was tight-lipped when it came to any transfer news.

“No update,” he said. “It’s really difficult to give you any news while there’s many wheels of the cog that are still whirring. We’re working tremendously hard behind the scenes to try and help and support the squad a little bit more.

“We know we’re operating in a difficult window, but we still have a bit of time left.”

Brazilian international Kerolin is reportedly on the verge of completing a move to Manchester, in what would be a huge boost for City’s squad. Questioned directly on this potential signing, Taylor added: “I think it’s really, obviously really difficult for me to comment on a player that is not officially ours so at this moment, I’d have to say no comment.”

City’s manager also admits that it is not just incomings that can be expected this month. “I think we understand that in this transfer window there’s not just going to be movement into clubs, there’s obviously going to be movement out.”

Chloe Kelly has been struggling for minutes at City and, with her contract expiring this summer, the England international could be heading for a January exit.

“There’s a lot of permutations in this window,” Taylor said. “Chloe is here at this club. What she’s done for me and the team in the past, we have a good history together. Whilst she’s here, she is the same as every other player, she is considered and valued. Whether she plays or doesn’t play she is part of what we are doing.”

Even Taylor’s future is not entirely clear, as the coach has been linked with Angel City FC in California.  However, he was not keen to engage with these rumours: “I’ve nothing to comment on in terms of the speculation. I think for me, I signed the contract around this time last year, really happy at the club, really grateful to the club for many, many years being here as a player and as a coach.

“I think we’ve got work to do here for sure. I’m excited about the challenge ahead. I’m excited about where we can potentially move things. Of course, there’s a lot of hard work still to be done. So I’m happy where I am.”