Man City already have three potential Ilkay Gundogan replacements if they fail to land Declan Rice

It's always sad when a legend waves goodbye but it's a heartache Manchester City have calloused themselves against in recent years.

Since Pep Guardiola took charge in 2016 a summer has not gone by without a beloved fan favourite, a player crucial to City's meteoric rise, leaving for pastures new. Joe Hart was the first and then Pablo Zabaleta, Yaya Toure, Vincent Kompany, David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho all followed.

Though perhaps brutal on the face of things, it has been an extremely smart strategy on City's part. They are not a club that dwells on sentiment and lives in the past. They honour those great players with the gravitas they deserve but when it's time to move on, they don't hesitate and instead look to move forward and get even better.

This year, though, it's quite a bit different. Unlike all those who have gone before, Ilkay Gundogan is still playing at his peak, perhaps the best football of his career, and he remains a crucial player who started the vast majority of matches in his final season.

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The Blues missed Kompany's leadership once he left but he had only played 47 times in his final two seasons. It took a year for Sergio Aguero to be replaced but he had played just 52 times in his. Both of them were retired from the game within a year of leaving the Etihad. Gundogan played 51 games last season alone in a year which also included a World Cup in the middle of it.

It's been some time since City have had to replace such an integral cog in the machine, rather than a player who had achieved greatness but was now clearly on the decline. The scale of the task at hand has been recognised by the club and they have moved to sort it.

Mateo