Manchester City have not been a selling club for some time now.
The Blues have transformed into one of the most dominant teams in Premier League history by acquiring the best talent from the country and the continent and keeping them.
It has been a tactic throughout Pep Guardiola's reign to tie first-team players up to contract renewals swiftly and effectively, and it has been a very successful one. Leroy Sane and John Stones stick out as the only notable exceptions in that regard.
Even last summer when Bayern Munich came calling for Sane, City could afford to be bullish. The Bundesliga champions were pursuing a talented player undoubtedly, but one that had struggled to get in the team for important games having failed to kick on from winning Young Player of the Year in 2018.
They wanted any transfer to be seen as a deal between equals rather than having one of their stars picked off by a bigger club, hence the stark difference in the two valuations of the player and the disapproval of Bayern's conduct.
Twelve months on and that situation may not have changed but City's has.
The club are facing a two-year European ban from the Champions League and while they are confident of getting it overturned in court - their hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport is yet to be listed - it has created uncertainty for them.
Top players including Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, and Raheem Sterling are now giving hints about moves and rivals that would not even have entertained spending any time on pursuing these stars before the Champions League ban are now sitting up and taking notice.
How City behave as Bayern go back in for Sane matters because the player is a valuable member of the squad that has been missed this season through injury. He has the capability to become one of the best players in the game and has a quality that few defenders can handle.
But it has become even more important because of the message that it will send out both to players who may be weighing up their options and to any clubs who may be weighing up moves for them. There are a lot more interested parties in the game this summer than there were this time last year.
City may not be able to hang on to every player they want to, particularly if the ban is upheld, but if their attitude on Sane is anything to go by they will not allow themselves to be picked off and lose the equal footing they currently hold with the best sides in the game.
How well they can hold that position by the time Sane's future is decided will determine how strong they can remain in future negotiations.
