The arrival of Pep Guardiola in 2016 promised great things. Looking back seven years on, and it has delivered them.
A clip of Guardiola and Kevin De Bruyne - the only remaining Manchester City player from before Guardioa's arrival - after the Champions League final shows the pair crying, hugging, and saying: "We did it. Seven years of fighting, we did it. We did it Kev. Now we have it."
Ilkay Gundogan was there every step of the way with Guardiola, as the German was his first signing for £24m from Borussia Dortmund. A transfer fee that looks like one of the best value additions City have ever made.
Guardiola signed six first-team players that summer, and with Gundogan leaving only John Stones remains from that first summer transfer window in 2016. A look at the other five show how Guardiola's transfer policy has evolved over the years.
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After Gundogan, who delivered 14 trophies for City, some single-handedly, City also signed John Stones, Leroy Sane, Claudio Bravo and Nolito. Aleks Zinchenko would sign for a bargain £1.7m before being sent out on loan to PSV, and wasn't considered a first-team option at the time although he would go on to become a key member of the squad until last summer.
Bravo represented a desire for Guardiola to have his goalkeeper as an extra outfielder in possession, but the experiment wouldn't work and Bravo was responsible for a number of gaffes in his first season. Still, that would see City look again for a better-equipped goalkeeper for Guardiola's system, and Ederson was signed a year later.
Sane was more of a success, playing a key role in City's title wins of 2018 and 2019, but a season-long injury would curtail his 2019/20 season before it started, and after making clear his desire to join Bayern Munich he eventually got his wish that summer. City have arguably missed his direct running since then, but have moved away from a system that suited him at the time, but is more possession-based these days.
Nolito can't be considered a success by any degree as he struggled to compete with Sergio Aguero and left at a loss 12 months later, if Guardiola wanted a striker to push Aguero, he would sign one the following January as a young Gabriel Jesus was secured, joining in the summer of 2017.
After Gundogan, Stones is the last man standing from the intake of 2016. Signed as a centre-back, Stones was key until injury and off-field issues saw him fall firmly out of favour in 2020. Now back to his best, Stones represents the ultimate Guardiola evolution as he ended City's treble-winning season as a ball-playing combative midfielder, bossing the midfield against Europe's best.
