Paul Merson believes the sales of Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus have made Manchester City 'weaker' heading into the new Premier League season.
The Citizens pipped Liverpool to the title on the final day of the 2021/22 campaign after they dramatically came from two goals down to turn defeat into victory against Steven Gerrard's Aston Villa at the Etihad, meaning the Reds' 3-1 defeat of Wolves was made redundant.
And while City have added Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez to their ranks over the off-season, they have waved goodbye to stalwarts of the Pep Guardiola era, Gabriel Jesus and Sterling.
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The ex-City duo have swapped the Etihad for London, albeit North and West respectively, which will make life harder for Guardiola and Co in the upcoming season, according to Merson.
"Manchester City are WEAKER going into the new season in my opinion," the former Arsenal midfielder said in his Daily Star column.
"They are losing a lot of good players who have been important for them, and we don't know how quickly the new signings will adapt. It wouldn't surprise me if they start the season slowly, and you don't want to give anyone a head start in this league or it can be hard to catch up."
And despite the quality the duo - who have been brought in from Borussia Dortmund and River Plate - have, the Sky Sports pundit believes it could take a period of time to adapt to the style of the Premier League. Something which Jack Grealish encountered after his British-record transfer from Aston Villa to City last summer.
"Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez could turn out to be the best signings ever," wrote Merson in his column. "Haaland could be unreal. But it takes time to get used to Pep Guardiola's system. And it takes time to adapt to a new league and settle in a new country. There's no guarantee it works straight away. I think it's definitely: 'Watch this space.'
"Look at Jack Grealish. That was almost like a bedding-in season for him. It took him a while to get used to it. You're taking away a lot of goals losing Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus. Sterling fitted the system better than anyone - no-one else scores those far-post tap-ins for them.
"And Guardiola trusted Jesus in the big games. They were two reliable players. So was Oleksandr Zinchenko. And I still think they are short of one top-quality centre-half."
Obviously, if Merson's predictions are to come through, it would hand Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp a boost in their aspirations of claiming a second Premier League trophy during the German's tenure. However, after running City so close last season, the Reds won't need to look across to the transfer dealings of Manchester City to generate confidence ahead of the season as they have signed Darwin Nunez for an initial £64m and Fabio Carvalho, who has impressed during pre-season so far, from Fulham.
Guardiola and Klopp will meet at the King Power Stadium next Saturday, in their first meeting since the thrilling FA Cup semi-final that took place at Wembley in April, as they contest the Community Shield just a week before the new Premier League campaign gets underway.
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