Guardiola has won seven trophies with the club, but not all of his 10 new players have done as well.
The former manager of Barcelona and Bayern Munich moved to Manchester in the summer of 2016. His first season was not easy as City came third in the league and didn’t win any trophies.
Luckily, success was on the way, and City has won at least one prize in each of Guardiola’s six seasons in charge. We looked back to 2016 to see where Guardiola’s first 10 signings are now.
Aaron Mooy
The player from Australia joined City in the same summer as Guardiola, but he never played for the first team. Right away, Mooy was moved to Huddersfield Town, and the next summer, he signed with them permanently.
It’s likely that Mooy didn’t have the skills to make it to the top level, but he has had a good career in the top flight. Mooy quit professional football in the summer, after playing for Brighton, Shanghai SIPG, and Celtic.
The Ilkay Gundogan
What a great deal this was. Guardiola spent a lot of money to get the German midfielder from Borussia Dortmund for £20 million. He was his first big deal as City manager.
Gundogan was always a good player for Barcelona under Guardiola, but in his last three years with the team, he became even more reliable. The German player always scored when his team really needed it.
Gundogan scored two goals that sealed the Premier League title in 2021–22, and he was also very important to Chelsea’s treble-winning season in 2023–24.
After seven great years with the team, he finally quit in the summer to take on a new task with Barcelona. He’s always welcome at the Etihad.
Nolito
Guardiola gave Nolito his first start for Barcelona in 2010, and the Catalan manager spent £13.8 million to get him to Manchester. There were high hopes for Nolito in La Liga, but he had a hard time living up to those hopes in the Premier League.
The winger from Spain only played for City for one season before being sent back to Spain the following summer. Nolito spent his last days in Ibiza before he announced earlier this year that he was retiring.
Oleksandr Zinchenko
During his six years with City, the versatile Ukrainian star won ten awards. Of course, Guardiola saw how talented Zinchenko was, but the full-back had a hard time keeping a starting spot.
They haven’t been as bad since he moved to Arsenal and is now a regular starter for Mikel Arteta when he’s healthy.
Leroy Sane
When he was at his best at City, the German speedster was like lightning in a bottle. Sane played 135 games for Barcelona under Guardiola and scored 39 goals. He also won eight awards during that time.
When City sold the player to Bayern Munich in 2020, they made a profit, and he’s in the best shape of his life right now. Sane has helped set up 14 goals in just 11 Bundesliga games this year, and he now plays with Harry Kane.
Some people are also wondering about his long-term plans since his deal at Bayern ends in 2025. Bild even said that the 27-year-old’s return to Man City would be a huge surprise. Keep an eye on this.
Marlos Moreno
The Colombian forward reportedly joined City for £4.75 million in the summer of 2016, but he never made it to a professional game. Moreno played for other teams on loan for the next six years, until he finally left the club in 2022.
Now that he is 27 years old, you can see him play for Konyaspor in Turkey. In 12 league starts this season, Moreno has one goal.
Geronimo Rulli
The Argentine goalie was another new player in 2016 who never played for the first team. Rulli was moved to Real Sociedad as soon as he got there, and he ended up signing with them the next summer.
Rulli is now 31 years old and plays for Ajax. He hasn’t played since August because he hurt his shoulder.
The John Stones
Stones was the most expensive player Guardiola bought for City in his first summer in charge. He was said to have cost £47.5 million. Even when things didn’t go smoothly at his new club at first, the England player always had Guardiola beside him.
He told reporters in 2017: “John Stones has more personality than all of us here together in this room.”
“More balls than everyone else here. That’s nice. I adore him. People criticize him when he’s under a lot of stress, so I’m glad to have John. With all of his many mistakes. I adore him. I love guys who are like this.”
After a few years, Stones is now thought to be one of the best defenders in Europe. Moving from defense to center is something he’s good at, and City isn’t the same team without him.
Pablo Mari
The defender from Spain joined City in 2016 and then went on loan for three years. After that, Mari played for a short time for Arsenal, but he had trouble getting a regular starting spot.
Mari did, however, do well while on loan with the Italian team Monza, and the move became permanent in the summer.
Claudio Bravo
Guardiola quickly got rid of Joe Hart and signed Bravo because he could play with the ball. It was easy for the Chilean goalie to handle the ball, but he wasn’t very good at stopping shots.
Bravo only stopped 56.7% of the shots he faced in the Premier League in his first season with City, and Ederson quickly took his place the next summer.
Bravo still does a great job for Real Betis at age 40, even though he doesn’t look as good in the Premier League.
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