Football Season Guide

Manchester City

In


Riyad Mahrez (mid) Leicester City; Philippe Sandler (def) PEC Zwolle; Aleix Garcia (mid) Girona FC – end of loan; Dougls Luiz (mid) Girona FC – end of loan; Jason Denayer (def) Galatasaray – end of loan; Luka Ilic (mid) Crvena Zvezda – end of loan; Eliaquim Mangala (def) Everton – end of loan; Joe Hart (gk) West Ham – end of loan;

Out


Angus Gunn (gk) Southampton; Pablo Maffeo (def) Stuttgart; Angelino (def) PSV Eindhoven; Olarenwaju Kayode (att) Shakhtar Donetsk; Yaya Toure (mid) released; Eric Palmer-Brown (def) NAC Breda – on loan; Pablo Mari (def) Deportivo La Coruna – on loan; Mix Diskerud (mid) Ulsan – on loan; Anthony Caceres (mid) Melbourne City – on loan; Jack Harrison (mid) Leeds United – on loan; Joe Hart (gk) Burnley; Luka Ilic (mid) NAC Breda - on loan; Lukas Nmecha (att) Preston NE - on loan;

Record-breaking season for Guardiola’s City lifted the bar extremely high, but the ambitious gaffer and his bunch of superstars like to challenge themselves and they will definitely be looking for even greater things this season. Logically no major names departed the Citizens this summer, while the failed January transfer of Riyad Mahrez was completed recently and with another top class winger in their ranks City really look menacing. Great depth in every area of the pitch, extremely solid goalkeeper and defence, wizard of a playmaker like De Bruyne and two lethal poachers (Aguero and Jesus) lurking inside the box suggest that City will be setting the standards once again this season. All that said the Sky Blues are pressed to finally achieve big things in the Champions League and Guardiola already stated that the main goal set in front of him by the Board is to try and win this competition. Knowing that and the gaffer’s tendency to use constant rotation City might be fielding some of the supporting players in many of their Premier League matches this season. Mahrez and Sterling will definitely be rotating a lot down the right wing, while youngster Jesus should be given much more playing time domestically as the team’s big star Aguero is expected to lead the line in the Champions League. Three players that will possibly start every game are goalkeeper Ederson, anchor-man Fernandinho and the main creative force De Bruyne. They are the three key figures in the current City squad and Guardiola recognises that. The Citizens constantly change their system and they could easily play with three, four, or even two at times, in defence. Up front Sane is expected to have an even better campaign than last time around, with Jesus aiming to improve his average conversion rate. The 18-year-old midfielder Foden could also emerge as someone to watch out for during this campaign after already taking part in several matches last season.

Target


Defending their title is a desired goal, but the Citizens want much more to establish as an international force and going for it in the Champions League is the primary objective this season. This might see the Sky Blues missing out on the domestic title, but still a top three finish should be easily achieved.