Bernardo Silva serves Man City with an Ilkay Gundogan transfer reminder

The last time Manchester City needed a hero at Wembley in the FA Cup, it was Ilkay Gundogan who stepped up.

Erling Haaland pillaged 52 goals for the Blues last season but they had all but dried up by the final month of the season. That didn't matter though because this was Gundogan season - against Liverpool, against Everton, against Leeds, and then in the cup final against United.

Not content with scoring the fastest goal in the history of the fixture, Gundogan added a second after United had controversially levelled from the spot to make sure that City would win. It was the best form of one of the club's greatest matchwinners, and it culminated in the perfect ending in Istanbul.

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It shouldn't be controversial to say that City aren't as good as they were last season, and a big reason for that has been the decision to let Gundogan leave on a free transfer. City's captain left for Barcelona because he wasn't offered close to what he wanted soon enough at the Etihad, and even if that error hasn't been publicly acknowledged the fact that Kyle Walker was offered a three-year deal to resist Bayern spoke volumes.

City have been excellent at moving on from players they have let go, yet Matheus Nunes has been too raw and Mateo Kovacic too inconsistent to mitigate for the impact of losing Gundogan - one of the smartest players on the pitch who knew innately what Guardiola wanted from every decision. Whatever moment came, you could count on Gundogan and it is difficult to find that.

City saw it again at Wembley though in the shape of Bernardo Silva. After a hellish week, it wasn't clear