Missing Gundogan, Nunes troubles and £50m temptation - Man City ready for next stage of midfield succession plan

This is normally Ilkay Gundogan's time of year. The 33-year-old hasn't scored for Barcelona since February, but for the Blues he used to come alive in springtime.

A year ago he was just about to click into gear, with two goals against Leeds and two goals against Everton vital to huge Premier League wins, before scoring both goals in the FA Cup final. A year before that came that final-day double to win the title against Aston Villa.

This season City will have to cope without Gundogan for the run-in. They needed a nerve-settling goal from Erling Haaland at the City Ground on Sunday and in the final four Premier League games and a repeat of last season's derby-day cup final, there will be more nervous moments ahead.

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Guardiola would certainly feel more comfortable if he could still call on Gundogan and there have been times this year when City have missed him. The absence has felt more acute due to the struggles of Matheus Nunes and while Mateo Kovacic has been better, he hasn't come close to matching the level of Gundogan's performances and his impact in the final third.

The difficulty in replacing the German should act as a warning for City as they consider the next phase of their midfield rebuild. Kevin De Bruyne, another 33-year-old, sees his future the subject of almost daily discourse at the moment and a summer never passes by without Bernardo Silva's name in the headlines.

Both have shown their value to City recently. Bernardo scored the winner in that draining FA Cup semi-final and De Bruyne masterminded league wins at Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest. Both are considerably closer to the end than