Five stars nailed-on for City next season
...THE REST HAVE A POINT TO PROVE TO GUARDIOLA
PEP Guardiola’s success at City has, to some extent, been built on uncertainty and the fluctuating fortunes of his brilliant squad.
That is why very few, if any, of the current Blues’ strongest XI can be certain they will be the first names on the teamsheet two weeks from now, never mind next season.
It is quite a contrast to the situation at Liverpool – City’s strongest rivals in the past three seasons – where the current best XI is much more clear-cut.
In many ways, that is Liverpool’s greatest strength, as they have rarely had to break up their world-class front three of Sadio Mane, Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino, while a strong defence that includes Andy Robertson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil Van Dijk has only been messed up by the season-long injury to the Dutchman last season, a blow that cost them dearly.
When you have seven certs, any that you lose is sure to weaken the team – City have fewer, and those who we have classified as certainties are far less likely to hold on to their places if they dip slightly in form or get an injury or suspension.
Here are the five Blues players we think are as close to certs for next season as it ever gets at the Etihad Stadium...
EDERSON
THE keeper is undisputed No.1, despite the occasional question mark over his shot-stopping, as we saw in the defeat by Crystal Palace recently.
But with Zack Steffen still some way behind him, and young pretender Gavin Bazunu still very raw, it is hard to see where the challenge is coming from for his position next season.
RUBEN DIAS
WELL into his second season at City now, and showing no signs of dropping the level of commitment, excellence and leadership that made him Footballer of the Year last season.
Dias has become such a fixture that he is rarely rotated, only getting a rest when the Blues play inferior opposition in the cup, and he has basically Aymeric Laporte and John Stones to fight it out for the other centre back spot.
RODRI
WITH Fernandinho one year closer to retirement, Rodri has shown real signs of becoming a huge player for City, adding a good passing range and physical combativeness to his technical ability.
This season he has pinned the team together in impressive displays at Chelsea, Liverpool and United, as well as against the lesser lights, and with Romeo Lavia the only academy challenger on the horizon – and he a couple of years from being ready – Rodri should go forward without hindrance.
KEVIN DE BRUYNE
MIGHT seem like a strange choice as there have been question marks over his place in the team for this season, after a flat start to the campaign.
But he has already spoken of the hangover from his injury-pocked summer, and has recently shown signs of snapping out of it.
He was similarly uninspired last season but ended up as the PFA Player of the Year and, going off the old adage that form is temporary and class permanent, De Bruyne is odds-on to finish the season strongly
and be back as a must-pick for Pep.
PHIL FODEN
THE issue with Foden for next season is not whether he will play, but where he will play.
The 21-year-old has excelled for City as a false nine, a left winger and midfielder, and has shown in the past he is a pretty effective right winger, too.
He has turned into a very rare asset, a utility player who gets to play in different positions – not because he is not good enough to hold any single one of the down, but because he is so good that he is brilliant in all of them.
It’s a problem for Guardiola to deploy him where he will be most effective, but a nice one to have.
AND THE REST?
THE competition in City’s squad is fierce, to the point that fine footballers like Laporte, Stones, Joao Cancelo, Kyle Walker, Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez and Gabriel Jesus cannot be sure from one week to the next that they will play.
Cancelo would be a definite starter for next season going off his form so far this season, when he has arguably been City’s outstanding individual.
The Portugal international could maintain his current level and make a mockery of that doubt, but he could also slip in standard and cede his place to Aleks Zinchenko. His consistency has been good this season, but he has yet to show he can maintain it for the long term, as our other picks have.
The same goes for Laporte, Stones and Walker, who have both been very good but know that one small slide in standard could see them out for a long spell – Cancelo’s emergence has upped the ante for Walker at right-back as well as displacing Aleks Zinchenko from left-back.
Bernardo Silva would be nailed on but for the fact there is no indication his desire to return to Portugal or Spain, for personal reasons, has gone away, so he is likely to be seeking a move again next summer, and City will not stand in his way if an appropriately huge offer comes in.
One notable omission is Jack Grealish, and it is staggering to think a British record transfer, a £100m player, might not be a definite pick for Guardiola next season – but he has yet to establish himself as a regular, despite the price tag earning him matches that his form perhaps did not warrant.
Not that Grealish has been bad – he has actually wavered from decent to very good, but he faces competition from the exceptional Foden, and from Raheem Sterling, whose long spell out of form has to end sooner or later.
Then there is Jesus and Mahrez, who will battle it out for that right-wing spot, and Gundogan, who is capable of establishing himself once more. And with Ferran Torres also showing early season promise before his injury, there would be no big surprise if our list of certs has grown by the end of the season.