Pep Guardiola may need to break own Man City transfer rule in summer transfer window
The summer after a Treble was always going to be interesting. How do you improve? How can you tempt players to stay after winning it all?
Pep Guardiola’s rule has been not to step in the way if a player wishes to leave. Leroy Sane, Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling were all allowed to bow out and there was to be no begging from City’s part.
Joao Cancelo found that out in January and ended up leaving a side that ended up winning the Treble. A lesson that ego is not everything.
He is bound to be one player that leaves the Etihad this season after an apparent rift with Guardiola. The Catalan coach said he wouldn't have cared if he had joined United in January as was his urgency to get rid.
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Bayern Munich opted against his buy-out and it could be a quick in and out at City this summer too. Meanwhile, Ilkay Gundogan has left on very different terms.
He became only the second captain of an English club to win the Treble last season and travelled to Barcelona with a pat on the back and a bouquet of flowers. Cancelo - who was booed upon his Etihad return with Bayern in the Champions League - might not get the same treatment.
Meanwhile, another full-back could be heading out of the door. Bayern are heavily interested in Kyle Walker and the 33-year-old will spy this as his last opportunity to play abroad.
That would leave City without a top-class full-back on either flank, which would be a point of concern for fans.
There is a fear Nathan Ake and Manu Akanji, however well they did at left-back last season, could be found out this time around while City would be wasting John Stones at right-back.
Elsewhere, Bernardo Silva and Aymeric Laporte are being linked with exits. The former
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