As Euro 2020 enters the final week, seven Manchester City players remain in with a chance of glory.
With four English players and three Spaniards, City could have most of a realistic first choice XI playing in a potential European Championship final.
Among those players, Aymeric Laporte is impressing in his first international appearances, so much so he is a regular for Spain immediately after gaining citizenship. Laporte has helped Spain to an unlikely semi-final, and has quietened all the furore in Spain over the omission of all Real Madrid players including their departed captain Sergio Ramos.
Laporte's influence isn't just seen in Spain's results, as he leads the way in a number of statistics for the entire tournament.
In terms of passes attempted, Laporte is well out infront of any other player with 540. He also leads the completed passes list with 519.
John Stones is ninth in that both lists with 344 passes attempted and 330 completed. Ruben Dias is tenth for completed passes with 304.
In the players with the best passing accuracy, four City-educated players make the top seven, with Reece James of Chelsea top, followed by former Blues defender Dedryck Boyata (97.5%). Eric Garcia is fourth with 97 per cent, with Laporte (96.4) and Stones (96) in sixth and seventh respectively.
Raheem Sterling remains in with a shout of the Golden Boot with three goals, two behind leaders Cristiano Ronaldo and Patrick Schick, while Kevin De Bruyne also registered a respectable one goal and two assists during four appearances.
But it's the passing and possession stats that are starting to influence the national sides, with Stones, Laporte, Dias, Kyle Walker and Aleks Zinchenko all regulars during the tournament. Only Covid prevented Joao Cancelo from taking his good pre-tournament warm-up form into the main event.
Guardiola challenged his players this year to do less running, but that doesn't mean City players aren't putting a shift in. The passing dominance shows that Guardiola's philosophy of making the ball do the work is being carried into the Euros, but Laporte and Zinchenko have also both clocked more than 53km in distance covered, putting them in the top seven of all players in the tournament.
Meanwhile, Sterling is among the top dribblers (6th, with 15) and the fastest players (11th, 31km/h), highlighting his improved form on the wing.
Only this week, reports in the Netherlands suggest Guardiola 'wants' to become the Holland coach in the future, while he is always being linked with a future role in charge of Spain.
Whether Guardiola's post-City future lies in international football or not, it's clear his influence is already there.
