Josko Gvardiol has told Pep Guardiola he can do what Aymeric Laporte couldn't for Man City

Of all the players leaving Manchester City this summer, Aymeric Laporte was the quietest departure.

A low fee, few interested clubs, no transfer saga, and a replacement already brought in ensured that Laporte's departure after five years largely went under the radar. He had found himself out of the City starting XI in the final months of the treble-winning campaign and declared that he didn't enjoy the triumphs as much as he wanted to because he was mainly watching from the bench.

When City signed Josko Gvardiol for £77.5m and declared he was a signing for the next decade, Laporte knew his time was up. It wasn't a surprise that he left the Etihad, more that no club in Europe felt he was worth the bargain price of £23.6m.

But in Gvardiol, City have a centre-back ready for the new era, and he is a logical replacement for Laporte. He's already showing what he can do for Pep Guardiola that Laporte couldn't.

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Guardiola regularly talked up Laporte as a player who had a unique skillset in the City defence of picking a pass that broke the lines and set the side on the attack quickly. Laporte's eye for a forward ball was unrivalled, and City will miss that trait now he has gone.

But he wasn't picked for much of last season and City won the treble. Guardiola preferred to let his centre-backs and full-backs carry the ball into midfield themselves, or move into the central areas and take the pass from their defensive colleagues, before linking up with the midfielders.

The ball was reaching the same areas that Laporte regularly picked out. It just took an extra pass and a bit more movement, but with that came less risk of