Picking European squad now not an issue for the Blues

REMEMBER when picking a Champions League squad used to be a major headache at City?

Manuel Pellegrini’s preference for two quality players in every position caused major problems – especially because most of his picks were foreign.

UEFA only allows a maximum of 17 non-homegrown players in a 25-man selection (or 21 as the Blues were limited to for a time as part of their FFP sanctions) and that managed to cause two departures from the club in one season.

Alvaro Negredo was sold after just one year in Manchester after being deemed the odd man out in August 2014, and Stevan Jovetic claimed Pellegrini ‘killed him’ after the Montenegro forward was replaced by new signing Wilfried Bony the following January – he left on an 18-month loan that summer that was made permanent in 2016.

Relying on so many foreign players also made filling the homegrown slots difficult. While Joe Hart, Gareth Barry and James Milner were regulars in the team, Dedryck Boyata, Richard Wright and Frank Lampard were among the stop-gaps that gave the feeling of a club scrambling to make up the numbers.

The fact that those dramas seem so long ago now is testament to how Pep Guardiola has transformed the squad.

There were two boggling moments in the very first squad he picked as City boss in August 2016 when John Stones was announced before he had left Everton and Yaya Toure was omitted.

However, the former was a logistics mix-up and the latter a deliberate decision, as the inexperienced Kelechi Iheanacho and forgettable midfielder Fernando were among the foreign players included.

Since then, it has been as plain sailing as City’s coast to the league title and the latest squad contains virtually no contention.

Aleks Zinchenko benefits from Claudio Bravo’s absence due to injury, but the fact City were willing to accept offers for the Ukranian this summer shows his position in the squad.

There is a strong English core too. Guardiola likes to work with players from the country he is coaching in and has brought Stones and Kyle Walker to the club and taken the games of Fabian Delph and Raheem Sterling to another level. All four went to the World Cup and were picked again in the most recent international squad.

Young prospect Phil Foden counts under List B and does not need to be named in this group, with Brahim Diaz and Aro Muric among other players in the same position.

In two years, the City manager has overseen an important transformation of the profile of the squad by bringing its average age down.

And this Champions League squad serves as a reminder of how much progress has been made in building a group capable of winning a competition keenly targeted by the club.