As mentioned on numerous occasions by Pep Guardiola, the most successful teams in the world need to constantly refresh their squad to maintain the same levels of hunger.
Manchester City are certainly following that very mantra this summer, with a whole host of changes taking place across the board. Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez and Stefan Ortega have already arrived at the club, with Kalvin Phillips joining from Leeds United in a £45million deal earlier today.
At the same time, Gabriel Jesus' departure was confirmed. After five years at the club, the Brazilian has moved to Arsenal in search of regular football and leaves the Etihad Stadium with 10 major trophies in hand - scoring 95 goals in the process.
ALSO READ: Man City announce Kalvin Phillips signing and confirm midfielder's shirt number
However, the outgoings are not expected to end there, with Raheem Sterling heavily linked with a switch to Chelsea and the futures of Nathan Aké and Oleksandr Zinchenko also still uncertain.
The latter has been on the verge of leaving City multiple times, but has always opted to stay and fight for his place in such a star-studded squad. He's proved for both club and country that he is capable of mixing it with the best and his situation has put a lot of top European clubs on high alert.
Zinchenko - who is already the Ukrainian national team captain - is predominately played at left-back under Guardiola, but can also be effective in central midfield. His versatility is something that will benefit City in such a crammed season, but he could also be the key to a potential formation change.
Erling Haaland's arrival - combined with Julian Alvarez's development - will signal a change in system and the prospect of a potential strike partnership has excited City supporters. That would bring into play a two-striker formation - likely a 3-5-2.
It was a style that was so exciting to watch at the beginning of the 2017/18 season, but injury issues in the defensive line brought that particular experiment to a sudden halt.
With Zinchenko's potential exit, reports have suggested City are interested in bringing Brighton's Marc Cucurella to the club as their fourth summer signing. The Spaniard has had a real breakthrough campaign under Graham Potter and has shown attacking exploits that would work perfectly in Guardiola's system.
He is still on a long contract at the AMEX, but a fee of around £45m is expected to seal a transfer.
There is a chance, however, that City could look at Zinchenko as an answer to their left-back issues. In attacking areas, the Ukrainian has shown he is more than capable of creating chances and finding the Sky Blue dangermen in the box, but is also intelligent at keeping the width and stopping the possibility of a lightning counter-attack.
Despite sales of both first-team and youth players somewhat balancing the books, the Blues could really save another hefty transfer layout by keeping hold of Zinchenko and delaying the purchase of Cucurella.
READ MORE:
- Read even more City news
-
Kalvin Phillips admits intrigue after being convinced to move by Man City duo
-
'He loves the club already' - Man City fans all say the same thing about Kalvin Phillips signing
-
Arsenal complete £45m signing of Man City striker Gabriel Jesus
-
Pep Guardiola's annual prediction is coming true again to motivate Man City title challenge
