Earlier this year, Pep Guardiola said Ilkay Gundogan can do whatever he wants with his future after his title-winning exploits in 2022.
If all the power was in Gundogan's hands in February, when Guardiola made that comment, then Manchester City will have had even less chance to persuade their influential captain to stay after his end to the season 12 months on.
Gundogan got City over the line with back-to-back braces to secure the Premier League title this season, scoring another two goals in the biggest FA Cup final in memory (against rivals Manchester United no less) and then led his side to the Champions League title in Istanbul for the first time.
Those goals vs Aston Villa were enough to write Gundogan's name in the City history books, anyway, but his role in their first-ever treble has underlined it and will earn him his own chapter. Who knows, maybe even a statue?
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Guardiola and City initially took the stance that Gundogan would choose to stay or not, but as the midfielder's performances grew and the important goals kept coming, those noises from the club turned into outright admissions that they wanted him to stay. That delay in realising how pivotal he was to the club may have proved to be their downfall as City are set to lose the battle to keep him as Gundogan is bound for Barcelona on a free transfer.
His expected exit follows a pattern of club legends leaving when they still have something to give, and something they want to achieve in their careers. David Silva and Vincent Kompany left on their own terms, so did Fernandinho, and now Gundogan has opted to leave on the highest of possible highs. After all, where could he possibly go from here in Sky Blue?
With a young family, Gundogan will value the stability of Barcelona's contract offer over City's shorter one and with it, the uncertainty of an option of an extra year. His wife may value the Catalan culinary scene over the Mancunian one, too. After achieving what he will have set out to do as Guardiola's first signing in Istanbul, Gundogan couldn't have scripted a better farewell.
City will also see the longer-term picture. Yes, Gundogan played a vital role in the treble, and it may not have happened without him. From their perspective, though, there would be risk in keeping Gundogan until he was 34 or 35. Not even Kompany, Silva or Fernandinho got long contracts after turning 30.
The Blues are not a club for sentiment when it comes to contracts, and have already set their sights on the seven trophies they will compete for next season, before continuing their hunt for silverware beyond that. Guardiola knows as much as anyone that squads must evolve, and City's midfield would risk turning into an aging one, especially if Bernardo Silva was to leave, too.
With Gundogan set for Barcelona, he can keep his incredible legacy intact. He rivals Aguero as the scorer of cup-winning moments that City fans will never forget after those Villa and United braces. Not to forget his role in lifting the Champions League, ensuring he will be forever connected with the club after seven sensational years.
It's fitting, too, that it was Gundogan to be the one to lift the European Cup - the title City have craved and the one they hired Guardiola to deliver - after he was the first player Guardiola brought in during that summer of 2016. Gundogan has been with Guardiola from the start, living in the same apartment block in recent years, and has scored some of the most important goals under the Catalan.
Finally, it was Gundogan lifting the holy grail as Guardiola watched on - a combination that justifies the work behind the scenes and on the pitch over the last decade.
As chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said this week, Gundogan is 'a representation of this club in terms of hard work, commitment always, humbleness, winning mentality." He added that Gundogan 'will go down in the folklore of Manchester City forever.'
Now City will move onto their next era. Gundogan has done what he was brought in to do, and taken City to a new level. Sometimes on his own. When Guardiola said Gundogan had the 'paradise' after his Villa goals, and can 'do whatever he wants' with his future, he was right.
If Villa was paradise, then City fans can pick their own superlatives for Wembley and Istanbul. Gundogan couldn't have written a more perfect farewell - maybe it's right that his final act as City captain was to hoist that Champions League above his head as the Blues' treble-winning captain.
