Man City have six looming contract decisions that is first huge test of Hugo Viana's reign

When Hugo Viana takes over the reins completely from Txiki Begiristain as Manchester City's sporting director, he will have six huge contract decisions to make almost immediately.

Viana will start work at City in January after a successful spell as Sporting CP's sporting director in Portugal. Begiristain will leave the same role at City at the end of this season, with the two working together in the second half of this campaign during a handover period.

Under Begiristain and manager Pep Guardiola, City have become the dominant force in English football and have won six out of the last seven Premier League titles.

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But a number of players are coming towards the end of their contracts and are entering the wrong side of 30 and Viana's arrival could well usher in an entirely new era.

Scott Carson, Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan are out of contract at the end of this season and their futures will be decided before Begiristain's departure.

But a further six players are out of contract in the summer of 2026 and how City deal with their futures will be the first major test of the Hugo Viana era.

City's goalkeeper has had a transformative effect on the team since his arrival from Benfica in the summer of 2017.

Not just for his innovative ability on the ball but for some important saves he has made along the way - not least in the 2023 Champions League final win against Inter Milan.

But all good things must come to an end eventually and there was genuine talk of the Brazilian international making the move to the Saudi Pro League last