After their historic Triple Crown victory, Pep Guardiola will not waste any time in rebuilding and improving the Manchester City team.
Guardiola will have the resources at his disposal to keep the recently crowned European champions ahead of the pursuing pack because City’s Treble was worth £294 million in prize money. Long before Rodri’s Champions League-clinching goal against Inter Milan in Istanbul, Guardiola and the City management started planning their summer transfer strategy.
The majority of Guardiola’s team will stay together, but there will be a number of high-profile departures, and City will work quickly to replace them in order to maintain their control over the domestic and European scene. Ilkay Gundogan, City’s captain, is likely to depart the team after seven years and sign with Barcelona as a free agent, while Bernardo Silva, another midfielder, has stated his desire for a fresh challenge.
Mateo Kovacic, a midfielder for Chelsea valued at £45 million, has been chosen by City as the ideal Gundogan replacement, and after winning the Treble, they intend to step up their efforts to buy him. Silva is determined to go despite City’s best efforts to keep him there. After all, he stayed for this season despite his desire to leave last summer.
Guardiola will want to acquire Kovacic as soon as possible since playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, who suffered a serious hamstring injury in the first half of City’s victory over Inter, might be out for up to three months, and Silva and Gundogan are also expected to leave.
Silva’s impending departure will undoubtedly provide Phil Foden the chance to prove to Guardiola that he deserves a regular starting position despite the England midfielder’s lack of playing time this year. Foden had long since fallen out of Guardiola’s starting lineup before he missed the final few weeks of the season due to an emergency appendix procedure.
However, the 22-year-old’s performance in the upcoming campaign is expected to be crucial, along with World Cup champion Julian Alvarez of Argentina, who, like Foden, has spent most of this campaign in the supporting cast.
After making just 11 Premier League starts this year, defender Aymeric Laporte has signaled his wish to leave this summer. City is happy for the Spain international to depart, provided they can find a replacement for him.
Josko Gvardiol, an £80 million-rated defender for RB Leipzig, has pleased Guardiola, especially with his versatility in being able to play as both a left-back and center-back. Riyad Mahrez, the 32-year-old captain of Algeria who is no longer Guardiola’s first choice and has a substantial offer from Saudi Arabia on the table, is expected to leave the Etihad this summer.
Julio Enciso, a 19-year-old Paraguayan winger for Brighton who pleased Guardiola and may take Mahrez’s spot, scored an outstanding long-range goal against City in a 1-1 draw last month. Another player who might be moving this summer is Kalvin Phillips, who started just two Premier League games and had a terrible debut season after joining City for £50 million from Leeds. Both of those starts came after City had already won the league.