Pep Guardiola embraces U-turn as Man City target more of the same

One of the more interesting insights from Pep Guardiola during his eight years at Manchester City came before the 2021 Champions League final.

Comparing their success with United under Sir Alex Ferguson as he spoke to Rio Ferdinand, the City boss said it was 'almost impossible' to win a string of league titles with the same group of players. "You have to shake, you have to move," he said.

City have not been shy about shaking things up ever since Sheikh Mansour bought the club in 2008, and the mantra has always been that if they aren't moving forward they risk falling behind. Success has never led to complacency with a hierarchy who are mindful of previous mistakes based on sentiment and mindful of not letting that happen again.

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When Guardiola takes to the training pitches at the City Football Academy on Tuesday though, there will only be one new face - Brazilian winger Savinho - out of the eight players adding to the group that toured the United States. Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and the rest are all likely to stay another summer and their continued presence is the opposite of agitation.

It means that before a ball has been kicked in the Premier League it can already be said what City's title defence will come down to: Erling Haaland to score the most goals, Kevin De Bruyne to get the most assists, Rodri to be the best player, and others - Phil Foden, Ruben Dias and maybe Josko Gvardiol come to mind - will have pockets of form where they are the most important to the XI.

That sense of predictability at such an early stage is why some are turned off at the