Pep Guardiola could face unfamiliar situation for Man City's Premier League opener

Transfer windows don't normally go like this for Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola is yet to welcome a major marquee signing following the arrivals of Erling Haaland and Jack Grealish in the two previous summers, while the City boss has also faced the difficulty of losing several important players as well. Former captain Ilkay Gundogan departed upon the expiration of his contract to sign for Spanish juggernauts Barcelona while the goalscoring and creative talents of Riyad Mahrez have also departed for Saudi Arabia.

Both have left big holes in Guardiola's squad, and in an ideal world City would have liked to have kept hold of both players. Mateo Kovacic is a worthy arrival and brings bags of ability and Premier League experience to the Etihad, but Guardiola is facing the very real prospect of having to work with a squad that is in worse shape this season than it was a year ago.

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As happens every summer, Bernardo Silva continues to be linked with a move away from the club and Kyle Walker could also depart for Bayern Munich. That's a lot of talent for one club to lose in a single transfer window, no matter how talented the rest of the squad is.

Guardiola has built one of the most, if not the most, talented sides in world football during his time at the club, but this summer, so far at least, feels like something of a step backwards. Josko Gvardiol, long touted as the marquee signing, is yet to walk through the door with negotiations still ongoing with RB Leipzig over a transfer fee.

Kovacic will go some way to replacing everything the club has lost following Gundogan's departure, but the Croatian has never been viewed as a direct replacement for the