Ilkay Gundogan was the first signing of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City tenure. He is one of the players who understands his vision of football on a granular level, so much so that there have been talks over him joining the staff as a coach when he retires.

These are early days in the process of finding a replacement for Kevin De Bruyne but Tijjani Reijnders staked his claim after his under-the-radar arrival this summer.