Keep, loan, or sell: Man City players who should be allowed to go during the summer transfer window in 2023.
The Premier League winners have had a fantastic season, but this will be their final season, even if City are reluctant to let some players leave.
Manchester City will have a smaller rebuilding assignment than any other Premier League team this summer. They are on the verge of winning the treble, and their substitutes bench outperforms many other clubs in the competition.
Pep Guardiola, on the other hand, has not accomplished all in his career by standing still, and he is already thinking about the future. The likes of Kalvin Phillips and Sergio Gomez have little chance of staying, while City must fight to keep Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva.
GOAL examines who City should keep, who they should loan out, and who they should sell this summer...
Erling Haaland should be retained.
There is no doubt that City will consider trading Haaland after his record-breaking season. Real Madrid, on the other hand, having recently lost Karim Benzema, and the Norwegian, who visited the Bernabeu while debating whether to join Madrid or City, is an obvious target for the 14-time European winners.
Ilkay Gundogan will be retained.
Gundogan has once again worked his magic when City needed him the most. He's been one of Pep Guardiola's most essential players all season, but he really came into his own in the last few weeks.
He scored two amazing goals against a tenacious Everton to virtually secure the Premier League title, and then made two stunning volleys to defeat Manchester United in the FA Cup final, shattering the FA Cup final record for the quickest goal. And no City fan will ever forget his two goals against Aston Villa on the final day of the previous season, which reclaimed the Premier League title.
Bernardo Silva should be retained.
Bernardo has had yet another outstanding season. He is the key to City's style of play; he is a selfless worker, an excellent dribbler and distributor, and he can weave the team's intricate play together. While he is not a prolific scorer, he has a knack of springing up and scoring at crucial moments, such as when City needed a second goal against Newcastle or his brace against Real Madrid.
KEEP: Kyle Walker Walker has had a difficult season, but he has come out fighting and reinforced his place in the club at a critical point in the season. He has also proven Guardiola incorrect when he questioned his ability to play in his new system.
Joao Cancelo is for sale.
Cancelo's loan move to Bayern Munich was unexpected, but it proved to be another masterstroke by Guardiola. The left-back refused to fight for his spot in the lineup, and the coach did not want him to undermine team spirit.
Aymeric Laporte is being sold.
The Spaniard's sixth season with City might be his most successful in terms of trophies while also being his least successful in terms of involvement. He made 12 Premier League and four Champions League games, the fewest in any of his five complete seasons with the club after signing from Athletic Club in January 2018.
Kalvin Phillips is for sale.
Signing Phillips after he had been out for four months with a muscle tear was always a danger, and his £42 million signing from Leeds has been a disaster for everyone. He has only started two Premier League games, both of which came after City had won the league, and has only played 38 minutes of Champions League action.
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