Manchester City haven’t seen a year like this since the guy who now wears the armband turned up on day one wearing bright pink shorts, bemused at the drizzle and a biting July wind.
Bernardo Silva was only 22 then, barely known in England until his displays in the Champions League against the team who would eventually buy him from Monaco.
Manchester United had been linked with Silva. The local newspaper up here was tipped off that the Portuguese playmaker had landed at the airport and assumed he was Old Trafford-bound. He ended the day as a £43million City player and the first signing of a seismic summer for Pep Guardiola, one that set them on their way to a long period of domination.
A lot of what followed boxed off key areas for years, areas Guardiola never had to worry about. Kyle Walker became the Premier League’s best right back, Ederson an ever-present goalkeeper perfect for City’s style and Silva his glue in midfield, either centrally or wide right.
That was eight years ago and with Walker’s departure, it is only recently that the trio have been broken up. Ederson could seal a move to Galatasaray before the transfer window closes, although that remains dependent on a balancing act involving the Gianluigi Donnarumma situation at Paris Saint-Germain and the future of last year’s No 2, Stefan Ortega.
The legacy and individual pieces of the 2017 window, its ruthlessness, its largesse, City’s building of their dynasty, is almost consigned to history. It should still act as a blueprint though.
The summer overhaul of 2017 produced Pep Guardiola’s first title-winning team, becoming the first team to win 100 points in a Premier League campaign
Ederson (left) looks set to join fellow cornerstone of the 2017 summer Kyle Walker in leaving Manchester City this summer
Bernardo Silva (left) caught the eye of English football with his excellent displays for Monaco in their run to the 2016-17 Champions League semi-finals, including beating City
They couldn’t finalise a deal for Aymeric Laporte yet he joined six months later, and was a hugely under-rated central defender, pivotal to winning the nail-biting 2019 title race with Liverpool. Benjamin Mendy arrived as the most exciting prospect, but left in dark circumstances having made just 44 league starts.
City, who also added the versatile full back Danilo from Real Madrid in the Silva summer, had a clear idea of what they wanted and the profile required. The average age of new recruits was 24. The average cost stood at just over £43m.
Willy Caballero, Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna, Pablo Zabaleta, Aleks Kolarov, Samir Nasri, Fernando and Jesus Navas were all shown the door. No mucking about, the aging squad churned.
It all sounds very familiar. This window shuts on Monday and there remains work to be done by a club who usually pride themselves on not being involved on deadline day. Irrespective, this is new director of football Hugo Viana’s 2017 moment.
Out with the old, taking City into a new direction. Whereas Txiki Begiristain had oodles of time to determine who, where and for what price – knowing exactly what Guardiola required and enacting that over two windows – Viana has had to construct a side for the next five years in his first months in charge. No wonder there was a lengthy handover with his predecessor.
It is not an easy job for a phlegmatic Viana, whose work appears even more discreet than Begiristain’s. Quietly, he moved from Morgan Gibbs-White to Rayan Cherki – amid a £30m gap in the players’ valuations – and there has been an element of decisiveness around City that had felt to be ebbing away a little after the Treble and, in hindsight, the blockbuster signing of Erling Haaland.
When 2017 and 2025 are examined, the similarities between the strategies are striking, notably the average age (23) of the seven signings since January who will impact the team this season. It would have been significantly younger were Sverre Nypan (18), Claudio Echeverri and Vitor Reis (both 19) – all out on loan this season – included in that equation.
There has been a noted change of direction from the team that Txiki Begiristain (centre) built with Pep Guardiola (right)
Claudio Echeverri is one of three long-term projects that City have sent out on loan this summer
Realism and practicality would suggest that there may be a few more days like last Saturday, the 2-0 defeat by Tottenham memorable for James Trafford’s galling error playing out from the back.
Equally, it would be no great surprise if a supremely talented City wiped the floor with Brighton on Sunday, laying to rest any ghosts of their late capitulation on the south coast last November.
As it stands after two games, too early to draw many conclusions, the fresh energy is a major plus point for Guardiola, and something he is relishing, but the young recruits are likely to need some time to fine tune the build-up, the press, the mixed styles of their manager and his assistant, Pep Lijnders in a consistent manner.
It will be up to those like Silva, like Haaland, like Rodri to coach them through tough moments in a way that wasn’t evident last weekend.
Kevin De Bruyne (34), gone. Walker (35), gone. Jack Grealish (29), gone. At least one goalkeeper is going. Manuel Akanji (30) has interest from Galatasaray, Crystal Palace and one other English club. Ilkay Gundogan (34) has not played a minute so far. Kalvin Phillips (29) searches for a new home. It’s a mountain of work to wade through.
And there might have been more, were Spurs willing to go above £70m for Savinho. Thomas Frank had eyes fixed on the Brazilian, who has not trained with the squad and been getting his money’s worth out of a home gym, one with pictures of himself in various strips adorning the walls. Both parties called time on talks on Wednesday.
In most senses, there feels no discernible difference between these two huge summers – and yet they have been attacked in one contrasting way.
The average price of Guardiola’s seven new faces stands at £39.6m. Although broadly the same figure as the £43m registered eight years ago, the two numbers are incomparable given inflation and the explosion of transfer fees in the interim.
Mistakes, like the one made by James Trafford in defeat by Tottenham last week, are to be expected by bringing in younger, less experienced players
There’s no Walker, Kevin De Bruyne or Jack Grealish around any more to teach the younger players how to deal with the harder parts of the job
Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders (high-fiving, left) are two of the summer signings that have hit the ground running this season
When Walker turned up in July 2017, City had committed to half of the top 10 most expensive purchases in British history – De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, John Stones, Walker and Silva all making the list.
It proved to be money exceptionally well spent – four Treble winners, three future captains, the embodiment of a Guardiola centre half and a forward who scored 131 goals for the club.
Now there is only one in the current top 10, £100m man Grealish. Josko Gvardiol, at around £90m, is close but doesn’t make it and this shows a marked shift in how City are operating in an era where they’ve pointedly shaved their wage bill following the 2023 triumph.
Should they have laid a marker down to sign Rodrygo from Real? The Brazilian is known to have been open to the idea. Making a splash on him sends a message, a winger who has four goals in nine games against City in this era of their titanic European battles. He is still only 24, too. Alas, with the end of Savinho’s move went his international team-mate.
But as Liverpool and Arsenal both splurge heavily in attacking areas this summer, City might have been minded to shoot their shot too.
They have resisted, perhaps keeping their powder dry until after a verdict on their Premier League charges is delivered or believing that the longer-term projects – Jeremy Doku, Savinho, Oscar Bobb – are strong enough to persevere with this term.
Omar Marmoush and Phil Foden add further quality in those areas, and it should be noted that the vast majority of the arrivals this calendar year are younger men, not meant to hit the ground running. A gradual introduction to the starting line-up will be necessary to avoid the mistakes that naturally come with youth and inexperience.
It brings to mind the final days of the 2017 summer window. Alexis Sanchez wanted out of the Emirates Stadium. City were bang in for him, negotiating terms with agent Fernando Felicevich for some time. United came in, City balked at the spiralling cost and moved aside.
City had a chance to snap up Rodrygo (centre), their nemesis in recent seasons in the Champions League
It is hoped that Jeremy Doku and Savinho can grow into high-class players, but they will need time and work
| 2017-18: average age 24, average cost £43.2m | 2025: average age 23, average cost £39.6m |
|---|---|
| Benjamin Mendy, £52m from Monaco, age: 23 | Omar Marmoush, £59m from Eintracht Frankfurt, age: 25 |
| Kyle Walker, £45m from Tottenham, age: 27 | Nico Gonzalez, £50m from Porto, age: 23 |
| Bernardo Silva, £43m from Monaco, age: 22 | Abdukodir Khusanov, £33m from Lens, age: 20 |
| Ederson, £35m from Benfica, age: 23 | Tijjani Reinders, £46m from AC Milan, age: 26 |
| Danilo, £27m from Real Madrid, age: 26 | Rayan Ait-Nouri, £31m from Wolves, age: 24 |
| Aymeric Laporte, £57m from Athletic Club, age: 23 | Rayan Cherki, £31m from Lyon, age: 21 |
| James Trafford, £27m from Burnley, age: 22 |
Although we’ll never know how Sanchez would have performed under Guardiola’s coaching, that did appear a masterstroke. See also moves for Fred and Harry Maguire, City not shying away from the idea that the finances were not right and United taking the risks instead.
Guardiola was actually more than a bit upset at the Maguire outcome, believing his bosses should have stretched to £80m, but Begiristain and Ferran Soriano were proven correct. The list is a little longer than that, Kalidou Koulibaly a good example – Ruben Dias arriving instead. Again, not a bad call.
Success stories are certainly more prevalent than failures over the course of Guardiola’s tenure. In the first rebuild they can herald four of the six signings, not to mention winning 100 and then 98 points in the two Premier League seasons immediately following it, landing Guardiola’s first two titles in England.
In the new age, Viana will hope five from seven work out if City are not going to become one of those clubs turning over high numbers whenever it’s pink shorts weather.
