Man City could have four key squad numbers available for upgrades or new signings

With Ilkay Gundogan's departure, the coveted number eight shirt will become available this summer at Manchester City.

Gundogan has been the holder of number eight since his arrival in 2016, but will leave after a glittering seven years and is expected to join Barcelona on a free transfer. Whoever inherits it will be only the third City number eight since 2012.

Mateo Kovacic is expected to join, and he would be a logical successor having worn eight at Chelsea, and squad numbers are often a way to get new signings feeling good straight away. Look at Jack Grealish's reaction when he got the number 10 shirt, or Kalvin Phillips receiving Vincent Kompany's iconic number four. It wasn't lost on Sergio Gomez that he was inheriting David Silva's old 21 number.

Some teams will use squad numbers to reward players, upgrading them from a higher number to a more 'important' number. Joao Cancelo took seven last summer, and Aleks Zinchenko upgraded from 35 to 11 in the past. Maybe City could do the same this summer?

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11 has been vacant since Zinchenko left last summer, and now number eight is vacant. If Cancelo leaves after his contentious loan exit in January, seven would also be available to a new signing or worthy player currently in the squad. With Kyle Walker potentially joining Bayern Munich instead of Cancelo, the number two might also be available for the first time since 2017.

Starting with the current squad, could someone like Kevin De Bruyne or Phil Foden get an upgrade to seven or eight? De Bruyne has worn 17 since he arrived and could presumably have taken seven when it was vacant last summer. Foden has explained