Manchester City’s summer spending was one part expected and one part surprise, yet one thing remains constant, their starting XI and the backup Pep Guardiola commands is quite astounding.
Erling Haaland was the headline signing of the summer for the reigning Premier League champions, and to the surprise of nobody barring some pundits who have never watched a second of the Bundesliga, the 22-year-old striker has been an absolute freak of nature, scoring ten goals in just six league appearances.
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Whilst there have been some slip-ups this campaign against the likes of Newcastle United and more recently Aston Villa, City could still consider themselves strong favourites to retain the title, and with the UEFA Champions League kicking off this week, European glory could finally be on the cards for Guardiola in Manchester.
Indeed, the Catalan coach has one of the deepest squads in all of Europe, and with that in mind, HITC Sport takes a look at City’s best main XI for the season as well as what their backup XI would look like now that the dust has settled on what was a hectic summer of transfers for the Manchester giants.
Erling Haaland starts with Phil Foden as Kevin De Bruyne stars in midfield
Eagle-eyed readers might notice that this XI is the same as when did this original feature all the way back in May, and there’s good reason for doing the same line-up, that being this team is arguably the best most-balanced Guardiola can field whilst also retaining maximum quality.
Whilst Ilkay Gundogan has this summer been named club captain and the likes of Manuel Akanki, Julian Alvarez and Kalvin Phillips have all signed for City, there’s no denying that these players are not quite at the level yet to start in the main XI, who on its day could be one of the best teams in world football.
As expected, Haaland leads the line with Phil Foden starting out on the left, with the England international already forming quite a strong relationship with the Norweigian superstar as Riyad Mahrez, arguably City’s most skilful and clutch player, starts out on the right.
With the Algerian on the wing, Bernardo Silva drops into midfield to partner Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri in one of the Premier League’s all-time best midfield trios as the defence of Kyle Walker, Aymeric Laporte, Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo caps off the XI, with Ederson Moraes retaining his spot between the sticks.
Five summer arrivals in Manchester City’s backup XI with Jack Grealish
As mentioned, City’s summer was quite a hectic one that saw the Manchester giants recoup almost £200m in transfer fees from departures as well as signing in players to replace the likes of Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, and it’s shown in the backup XI.
One of the more surprising deals of the summer was that of Stefan Ortega, who signed from relegated Bundesliga side Arminia Bielefeld as Zack Steffen was loaned out for the season to Middlesbrough, with the American’s performances drawing criticism from fans and pundits, namely in the FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool.
The defence also sees a major reshuffle with Borussia Dortmund signing Manuel Akanji and academy graduate Rico Lewis, who this season has already made his senior debut for Guardiola’s side as the 17-year-old fullback looks to ease the right-back into the senior picture.
In midfield, Kalvin Phillips replaces Rodri as the defensive midfielder with captain Gundogan and another academy graduate in Cole Palmer partnering the £45m Leeds United signing, with the England international hopeful of being a regular in Europe as well as in domestic cup competitions.
Rounding off the XI is Jack Grealish out on the left with summer arrival Julian Alvarez, who has already impressed this season for City, and Sergio Gomez, who naturally is a left-back yet has experience playing virtually everywhere on the pitch, an asset that makes the Spain U-21 star an incredible new addition for Guardiola’s flexible system and squad.
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