It has been a goodbye to the greats in Manchester City’s summer of change, adios to Pep Guardiola, Bernardo Silva, John Stones and Rodri, with tributes reflecting their importance in the club’s history. Nathan Ake, another Champions League winner, was afforded less of a fanfare, but then he always did tend to fly under the radar.
But there is a different kind of farewell: to the men who have come and gone at some speed, often with sizeable sums of money changing hands, but without the longevity of Guardiola, Silva and Stones, who all gave either nine or 10 years of service. Some may have been designed as the successors to the treble team, but are leaving in the same summer as a couple of them, barely a year after others. Which, in turn, can show the difficulty of coming after legends; anyone else can look like a downgrade.
