In the last two summers, City have postponed much of the rebuild; two of the six recruits in that time are now in the band of 30-somethings. And while Guardiola said it was harder to be stable defensively without a quartet of centre backs and two holding midfielders, arguably he only has one: Mateo Kovacic does not covet that role.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has won 18 trophies in his time at the Etihad Stadium and signed a two-year contract extension at the Premier League champions only last week