Ultimate Guide to Manchester City's 2016/17 Season
This may well be the most exciting season in recent memory for Manchester City fans.
The arrival of Pep Guardiola has seen optimism return to the Etihad Stadium after Manuel Pellegrini’s tenure had gone stale. Change was needed—and in the Spaniard, it’s arrived in style.
It’s an appointment that has bought Txiki Begiristain, the club’s sporting director, some time. He was under fire after some questionable transfer windows, but by luring the finest manager in the game to City—beating off stiff competition in the process—he has reminded his critics of his pull.
If his signings this summer work out—and they are more ambitious than they have been in the recent past—his hit-and-miss record in the market will fade into the background.
Here we take a look at City ahead of the new Premier League season. What can their new players bring? Who are their fiercest Premier League challengers? And which games stand out as the most important?
1. Pep Effect
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Pep Guardiola has won 21 trophies in seven seasons as a manager, including six league titles and two Champions Leagues. It’s a remarkable record that has seen him heralded as the finest tactician in the game.
He’s demanding and works his players hard, but those who have played under him almost unanimously enjoy the experience. He improves players, combats the opposition superbly and encourages attacking football. Most of all, he brings success.
His effect is already clear. City’s players have been galvanised, and although it will take some time for him to shape his side exactly as he wants it, they are already pressing high and passing with increased speed.
However, English football brings different challenges. Four competitions and a depth of quality among his rivals the likes of which he’s never seen.
Can he repeat his success at Barcelona and Bayern Munich in Manchester?
2. New Players
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Manchester City now operate a two-tier transfer system.
Some players are signed and ready for immediate first-team action. Increasingly, though, they are also recruiting “development players,” talented youngsters from across the globe whose progress is continued on loan at other clubs before they return to City and fight for a starting spot.
City have been bolder than they have been in any of the last four summer windows.
Here are their six summer signings.
Ilkay Gundogan
Age: 25
Signed from: Borussia Dortmund
Fee: £21 million
Ilkay Gundogan could be City’s best value-for-money signing of the summer. A midfielder who works hard without the ball and possesses quality in possession, he is the archetypal Guardiola player.
When the City manager first went to Bayern Munich, he made Thiago Alcantara his first signing within days. He saw the midfielder as key to his Bayern revolution, and so it proved.
Guardiola sees Gundogan as capable of the same impact.
Nolito
Age: 29
Signed from: Celta Vigo
Fee: £13.8 million
Hardly a world-class player, but for just £13.8 million—which in today’s market is very little for a proven international—Nolito could prove to be a smart move.
Celta Vigo impressed last season playing a style not too dissimilar from what Guardiola will implement at City. The Spain forward was a key player for the Liga side; he keeps the ball well and can create.
Oleksandr Zinchenko
Age: 19
Signed from: FC Ufa
Fee: £1.7 million
A young star on the rise. Oleksandr Zinchenko looks a snip at £1.7 million. He impressed at the European Championship for Ukraine and has looked superb in pre-season for City.
A season-long loan move away from the Etihad seemed likely when he signed, but given the quality he has shown, there could be a change of heart.
The teenager can play in wide areas or as a No. 10, and he has superb vision and an excellent first touch.
Leroy Sane
Age: 20
Signed from: Schalke
Fee: £37 million
Perhaps the most exciting is 20-year-old Leroy Sane, a quick forward who has excelled in the Bundesliga with Schalke.
He will add pace to City's counter-attacks and can score goals. He'll need time to adapt—but Guardiola clearly values the qualities he can bring to the side.
Gabriel Jesus
Age: 19
Signed from: Palmeiras
Fee: £26 million
Gabriel Jesus won’t join City until December when the Brazilian league has concluded—but the excitement in the City boardroom at this capture is palpable.
Jesus is one of the most sought-after young players in the game, and City have done superbly well to land him. Guardiola will be expecting him to have an impact midway through the campaign.
Marlos Moreno
Age: 19
Signed from: Atletico Nacional
Fee: £4.75 million
Marlos Moreno is another highly-rated young player. The Colombian winger is quick, strong and can score goals.
He will spend this season on loan at Deportivo La Coruna in Spain before returning to City and challenging for a place in Guardiola’s side.
John Stones
Age: 22
Signed from: Everton
Fee: £47.5 million
Perhaps the most important signing of them all. John Stones looks set to be key to helping Guardiola implement his possession-based style. There’s huge pressure on the 22-year-old to deliver.
Guardiola wants City to play out from the back, but at the moment they don’t have the tools to do it. In Sunday's friendly against Arsenal in Gothenburg, Sweden, they found themselves giving the ball away in dangerous areas and suffering as a result.
Stones is the finest ball-paying defender in England. If Vincent Kompany can stay fit and forge a positive partnership with the England international, City will be stronger than last season.
3. Key Fixtures
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In a division that looks likely to be defined by its depth of quality, every game is of vital importance. Some fixtures stand out more than others, though.
City play Manchester United at Old Trafford on September 10 in what will be the first Manchester derby with Guardiola and Jose Mourinho in charge of the respective clubs.
After the damp affairs of last season that saw two failing managers—Pellegrini and Louis van Gaal—go up against each other, there’s no danger of this game being anything other than box office.
Guardiola and Mourinho, arguably the finest managers in the game, don’t get along. Expect the pre-match talk to contain plenty of needle.
The return game at the Etihad takes place on February 25.
City’s final seven games of the season look straightforward, and if they can get themselves in contention for the title before that run, they will fancy their chances of being crowned champions.
Before that run of games, though, they play Arsenal away on April 1 before a trip to Chelsea four days later. It doesn’t come much tougher.
Pellegrini’s big-game record as City manager was appalling, and one of Guardiola’s biggest challenges is reversing that trend.
City’s final seven games:
Hull City (home)
Southampton (away)
West Bromwich Albion (home)
Middlesbrough (away)
Crystal Palace (home)
Leicester City (home)
Watford (away)
4. Rivals
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The Premier League may not contain the best players in the world—but this season there can be little doubt it’s home to the best managers.
Guardiola will go up against Mourinho, Jurgen Klopp, Antonio Conte, Claudio Ranieri and Arsene Wenger. It looks set to be a battle of wits like never before.
United have had a superb window. They needed a manager who is a proven winner; they got one in the shape of Mourinho. They needed some power and energy in midfield, and Paul Pogba is the best around in that department. They also needed some arrogance after an insipid three seasons, and Zlatan Inbrahimovic is the emphatic answer.
United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward deserves huge credit. The Red Devils may fall short of winning the title, but they are back in contention after a summer of superb recruitment.
Conte is a master tactician. Expect Chelsea, who have spent big and will continue doing so, to be formidable again after their dreadful 2015/16 campaign.
Liverpool’s squad still needs work, but Klopp is a genius. Tottenham Hotspur have been building slowly but surely for some time, and Mauricio Pochettino is one of the finest young talents in management. Arsenal, if they don’t improve their squad, are in danger of finally dropping of out the top four. Can Leicester City repeat their heroics of the season?
There is serious competition in the Premier League this season. It looks set to be a fascinating year.
5. Business Left to Do
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The transfer window doesn’t shut until the end of August, and the majority of City's business is done. A goalkeeper could perhaps arrive, and a striker to help ease the burden on Sergio Aguero. Their incoming business is pretty much done, though.
However, the exit door hasn’t seen anywhere near enough action. City need to get rid of players quickly.
High up the list of expected departures is Wilfried Bony, whose move from Swansea City in January 2015 simply hasn’t worked out. City spent £25 million on the Ivorian and can expect to make a loss, but finding him a new club is now a priority.
Eliaquim Mangala also appears to have been frozen out having been left in Manchester last weekend when his team-mates were in Gothenburg. Samir Nasri, too, is on the brink of being sold after returning from his summer break overweight, per Sky Sports.
Finding buyers for the trio could prove difficult. All three would cost a significant sum of money. Factor in their wages, and there are plenty of interested clubs who are likely to be put off.
Begiristain needs to find solutions for them. None have made it into Guardiola’s initial Champions League squad, a sure sign he sees them as surplus to requirements.
Having them hanging around would go against one of Guardiola’s core principles. He prefers smaller squads with a nucleus of versatile players. Having unhappy players in the mix can upset the unity.
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