Manchester City's summer of transition has been dominated by farewells to club legends. Pep Guardiola's departure was accompanied by emotional send-offs for Bernardo Silva, John Stones and Rodri, each of whom spent nine or ten years at the Etihad. Nathan Ake, another Champions League winner, also left, albeit with less fanfare given his tendency to operate away from the spotlight.
Alongside those farewells, however, City are also saying goodbye to a very different category of player: those signed in haste during Guardiola's final two seasons who never established themselves as long-term fixtures. James Trafford, Tijjani Reijnders and Savio have already departed this summer, while Nico Gonzalez and Omar Marmoush appear likely to follow.
None of these five players won a Premier League title with City. Savio made the most appearances among them with 84, while Marmoush's 16 goals represented the group's top scoring return. Rather than cementing themselves as long-term successors to the club's Treble-winning core, they instead became emblematic of a turbulent period of change - from Guardiola to Enzo Maresca on the touchline, and from director of football Txiki Begiristain to Hugo Viana in the boardroom.
Financially, the exits have proven lucrative. City have already banked £91m from sales, with a club-record £85m arriving from Savio's move to Tottenham Hotspur. Should Marmoush also head to Spurs and Gonzalez join Newcastle United, a further £100m could follow. That income has effectively funded a midfield overhaul, including the £116m signing of Elliot Anderson and a proposed £85m deal for Ayyoub Bouaddi, with room left over for a potential third midfield addition.
The club spent roughly £450m across four transfer windows recruiting the players now being moved on or sidelined, more than half of that outlay going toward business that has since been unwound. The rush to replace an ageing squad, particularly during the January 2025 window, appears to have prioritised volume over the calibre required to match those departing.
Several of the deals illustrate the difficulty of replicating departed stars. Savinho showed flashes of Riyad Mahrez's directness and inherited his number 26 shirt, but never matched his end product. Marmoush offered a false-nine option to cover for Erling Haaland but struggled against low blocks. Reijnders, more of a box-to-box presence than a classic Guardiola technician, lost his place in the side, while Gonzalez, brought in as competition for Rodri, was ultimately deemed not the long-term answer despite Maresca's public search for "a new Rodri." Trafford's return to the club was complicated by the signing of Gianluigi Donnarumma, pointing to a breakdown in internal planning.
Other recent arrivals remain at the club but in diminished roles. Sverre Nypan has been loaned out again, Vitor Reis sits as fifth-choice centre-back, Marcus Bettinelli is third-choice goalkeeper, and Rayan Ait-Nouri has started the season on the bench.
Of the wave of signings made during this transitional period, five stand out as more successful investments: Donnarumma, Antoine Semenyo, Marc Guehi, Rayan Cherki and Abdukodir Khusanov. Three of them - Donnarumma, Semenyo and Guehi - were considered relatively low-risk given their established Premier League or international pedigree. Cherki, signed for just £31m, and Khusanov, raw but blessed with pace, represent the more ambitious gambles that appear to have paid off.
The pattern suggests City may now be applying a clearer philosophy to recruitment, favouring proven quality over speculative talent, as reflected in the record fee committed to Anderson. The broader picture, though, points to a harder truth: rebuilding a title-winning squad within a handful of transfer windows was never realistic. City have instead reconstructed roughly half their team successfully while recouping - and often profiting from - the players who did not work out.
Based on reporting from The Independent.