It feels like a lifetime ago now but there was a stage when Manchester City's transfer window was tinged with a hint of peril.
Way back in May, before the season had even concluded, Ilkay Gundogan was being heavily linked with a move away from City. In the final, pivotal weeks of the season, speculation was growing stronger. The likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and, of course, Barcelona were all linked and with only a year remaining on his contract, the possibility of a departure looked worryingly high.
The German was spotted at a private jet terminal in May which sparked a flurry of speculation. He was instead jetting off to get married but the anxiety caused showed how real the threat was perceived. The timing of the reports was said to have infuriated his agent but Gundogan remained level-headed, saying nothing would be resolved until the end of the season.
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Then, on the final day of the season, it was his introduction and remarkable brace that steered City away from a last-gasp disaster to claim the Premier League title just ahead of Liverpool. It was the sort of game-changing display that justified all the concern surrounding his future.
Leaving was a real possibility. Gundogan didn't play as much as he wanted to last season, even starting on the bench in the crucial Aston Villa game may have come as a blow before he wrote his name into City folklore.
Raheem Sterling said after the match: "He hasn't featured as much as he likes, he got the chance to make his mark." Gundogan himself tweeted the campaign wasn't an easy one personally. With a year remaining on his contract and a decent fee on the table, a sale may have made a degree of sense from a City perspective.
Instead of forcing through a move, Gundogan committed to staying for the final year of his contract and would hold talks over an extension. Keeping him has already proven to be far more beneficial in just the first two games of the season.
With Bernardo Silva's future uncertain, Gundogan has been handed a starting berth in both matches so far in the Premier League and he has well and truly earned his spot. Against West Ham, it was his intelligent and composed display in the middle that helped the Blues completely control a game they usually have a bit of bother in.
He also played a delightful through-ball for Erling Haaland to win a penalty. A few months on since he scored the last goal of the season at the Etihad, he bagged the first of the new season when Haaland turned provider. They played a brilliant one-two as Gundogan exploited the space, as he so often does, before turning in.
It's that ability of a 'second runner' - the best in the club according to Pep Guardiola - which makes him such a brilliant asset, alongside his elegance on the ball, intricate passing and now his leadership and experience. With Fernandinho's departure City lost a significant presence in the changing room but Gundogan looks to already be filling the hole, wearing the armband to start the season before the captaincy ballot is held once the transfer window has closed. If he doesn't get the captaincy on a permanent basis, you can be sure he will be in the leadership group after maturing into one of the senior stars at the club.
Losing him this summer as well as Fernandinho would have been a heavy blow. As Kevin De Bruyne said after the game: "I’ve been playing for six years with him at City and he has been incredible in that period of time."
Gundogan is now getting what he wanted to extend his time with the club even further with a new contract - playing time - so it surely won't be long before City make a move.
City's transfer window was already excellent with the arrivals of Haaland, Kalvin Phillips, Julian Alvarez, Stefan Ortega and the incoming Sergio Gomez, as well as the money raised from the sales of Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko. But keeping hold of Gundogan has made it even better.
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