Man City's £77million decision shows what Pep Guardiola wants more of

Maybe it's a coincidence, but there could be something in the fact that Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki arrive at Manchester City this summer after having had the best goalscoring seasons of their careers.

The penny dropped for Reijnders in a spectacular way. He scored 15 goals in 54 games for AC Milan, having never previously scored more than eight goals in a season. That tally came in 2018/19, when he was playing for AZ's second team.

The 26-year-old became a much more consistent attacking threat at the San Siro and has been earmarked for the No. 8 role by Guardiola after his £46.3million move to City.

Cherki could play just in front of Reijnders. The 21-year-old has matured this season, and his numbers speak for themselves, with 12 goals and 20 assists in 44 games for Lyon. Those dozen goals were more than double his previous best return.

Adding goals to this squad was clearly an issue after last season, when Erling Haaland scored 31 in all competitions but Phil Foden was the only other player to hit double figures, and he managed just 10. It's not easy to separate cause and effect, but in 2023/24, four City players hit double figures, and three scored 19 or more.

The season before that, there were six players who scored 10 or more, and in 2021/22, it was seven in double figures. So the drop-off is noticeable.

City's game has changed in that time, certainly since 2021/22, with Haaland now the goalscoring figurehead. Guardiola will also want more goals from wide players like Jeremy Doku and Savinho, while there is hope Foden will rediscover his best form. Omar Marmoush should also hit a decent number with a full season at the Etihad.

But the output has dipped from Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and the now departed