Stuttering Super Cup display highlighted two areas where Man City need new players

Pep Guardiola says Manchester City have to re-enter the transfer market to sign a new midfielder in the wake of Kevin De Bruyne's injury, and his stance won't have changed after the Super Cup victory against Sevilla.

Guardiola challenged his players before the game to take their chance in midfield without De Bruyne, adding that 'another one will come in' behind Erling Haaland. Whether that was broken English to say that a current player will take the spot, or a slip of the tongue to say there will be transfer activity is up for debate.

Phil Foden got the nod at number ten in Athens and was busy across the attacking midfield areas. He supported Jack Grealish on the left and Cole Palmer on the right - but that meant he wasn't always supporting Erling Haaland in attack. The striker has played five finals for City (including the Community Shield) and hasn't scored in any.

Noticing the issues in midfield in the first half, Guardiola made changes after the break, with Grealish highlighting how Foden swapped with Mateo Kovacic to play the left-central midfield role. It helped a bit, but neither player managed to get Haaland involved as hoped.

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There are two obvious solutions to that problem, and one came off the bench when penalties loomed. Julian Alvarez has often been the go-to replacement for De Bruyne and naturally plays closer to Haaland at the top of midfield. He will surely get more minutes going forward as Foden continues to learn the midfield role.

Then there is Bernardo Silva, set to sign a new City contract after another summer full of speculation he could leave. Bernardo was ill so missed the Super Cup, and he could inject some more