Manchester City have a point to prove next season.
After four years of dominance the likes of which we’ve never seen before in English football, Pep Guardiola’s men finally surrendered the title to Liverpool.
Worse than that, the Cityzens slipped to third, 13 points adrift of the Reds and three behind Arsenal, while they failed to lift a major trophy, losing the FA Cup final to Crystal Palace.
Predictably, City have been busy bringing in reinforcements this summer, signing the likes of Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders — maybe in an attempt to keep up with Liverpool’s lavish spending spree.
It’s the latter we’re choosing to focus on here, with Reijnders perhaps signed purely to avoid the sort of cataclysmic drop-off City endured after the early-season injury of Rodri.
But Rodri is back in action at the Club World Cup and that got us thinking about the ridiculous depth Man City now boast in midfield once again, and the various ways Guardiola could choose to utilise it.
Here are three completely different midfield line-ups Man City could use next season, without even pulling the likes of Cherki and Phil Foden in from their attacking positions:
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1. Tried and tested
Two statements are true at the same time about Manchester City. The first is that they definitely need some new ideas and innovations, but the second is that they chronically missed Rodri last season.
However, as mentioned, the Spaniard is now back in action, coming off the bench to provide an assist against Al-Ain before starting and managing 66 minutes in the 5-2 thrashing of Juventus; his first club start in any competition since he came off injured against Arsenal in September 2024.
You’d wager that Guardiola will now use the rest of City’s Club World Cup campaign and pre-season to gradually increase Rodri’s minutes and get him match-fit for their Premier League opener against Wolves on 16th August.
Elsewhere, Bernardo Silva has just been named club captain, while Ilkay Gundogan was third at City behind Savinho (8) and Kevin De Bruyne (7) for assists in the Premier League last season (6). With KDB gone, Guardiola might want a steady presence in midfield next season, and in this line-up, he has three of the best in that regard.
If Rodri can reach his 2024 levels again, there will be no problems in this or any other Man City engine room.
2. A fresh approach
Even if all of that is the case, the average age of that midfield will be 31.33 by the time the new season kicks off. At some point or another, fresh blood will be needed.
This is why the likes of Reijnders and Nico Gonzalez have been brought into the club. At just 26 and 23 years old, respectively, there is a great mix of longevity and experience between these two. What’s more, Reijnders brings excellent running power, physicality and an eye for goal, netting 10 times in Serie A for AC Milan last season. They really don’t have anyone else in the squad with his skillset.
Meanwhile, Gonzalez is a technical marvel, completing 92.3% of his passes in the Premier League last season at a rate of 67.6 successful passes per 90 minutes.
Mateo Kovacic has been put into this line-up for some continuity and, in all honesty, he performed admirably as Rodri’s stand-in last season; arguably the hardest job in football over the past year, given the standards the former Atletico Madrid man has set at the Etihad.
Good luck getting the ball off this lot.
- Read more: Who are Man City’s next ‘dynasty-builders’?
3. Trust in the kids
We’ll start by stating that the chances of actually seeing this midfield line-up in any friendly or competitive match are extremely low. For starters, all three are very attack-minded, so trying to decide which one of them will sit and cover would be a nightmare. In fact, it might just be easier to ask Rico Lewis to tuck inside and cover the defensive midfield space instead.
However, none of that means we shouldn’t pick apart the individual merits of the players involved.
For example, nobody expected James McAtee to stay at Man City last summer and when he did, it took him a very long time to break into the team. However, Guardiola loves a passion project with his youngsters and McAtee eventually ended the campaign on seven goals in 27 appearances across all competitions, including three strikes in the Premier League.
“Macca has this quality, he could’ve scored four goals [against Palace]. He has the ability to create chances, he is there,” Guardiola said of McAtee in April, adding: “Macca lives close to the box, quite similar to Phil, and they are there. They have a sense [of goal], it’s difficult to train in the moment the ball is coming and after he didn’t score, but it’s fine. As much minutes he plays he will score.”
He continued: “For the age, I would like him to stay. I understand, the players want more minutes I understand that.
“I would like him to stay, he’s an academy player, he knows the patterns, he’s a lovely person, a lovely guy.
“He trains really good, plays in different positions. I like him, but with the squad, it’s how we finish, and we will see.”
Nico O’Reilly really caught the eye covering out of position as a full-back last season, but Guardiola has always maintained he’s best as an attacking midfielder. And despite playing in defence, O’Reilly still popped up with five goals and two assists in 20 appearances across all competitions in 2024/25, while he averaged 0.68 chances created per 90 minutes in the Premier League.
And then we have Claudio Echeverri. Is this kid the second coming of David Silva? Both are 1.7m tall with an eye for a pass, and Echeverri has been turning heads this summer, not least for his sensational free-kick goal against Al-Ain at the Club World Cup.
He’s faced criticism in the past, but there’s no question Guardiola is excellent when it comes to bringing through youngsters at the right time. All three of these will fancy their chances of being important pieces throughout next season for Man City. Just, probably not all at the same time.