Manchester City inching closer to winning the 2020/21 Premier League title.
City could regain the crown this weekend if they beat Crystal Palace and Manchester United are beaten by Liverpool on Sunday. With the Blues favourites to reach the Champions League final after their first-leg victory over Paris Saint-Germain, and winning their four consecutive Carabao Cup last weekend, it's shaping up to be an incredible season for Pep Guardiola and his team.
Ahead of the upcoming transfer window City have been linked with a number of high-profile players from around the world, and with legendary striker Sergio Aguero leaving on a free transfer at the end of the campaign, many are expecting the club to strengthen significantly this summer.
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So, which players could City sign this summer?
And, how can we expect City's starting XI to look when the 2021 transfer window closes?
We used football management simulation game Football Manager 2021 to have a bit of fun and find out how City's squad could look after the 2021/22 summer transfer window.
Man City's 2021/22 squad predicted after 2021 transfer window
To find out what City's squad could look like at the beginning of the 2021/22 season, we used the popular football management simulation game Football Manager to try and predict the future.
We simulated the entire 2020/21 season on the game, and then simulated further into September 2021, to see how City's squad looked after the 2021 summer transfer window.
Here's what happened!
Transfers in: £236m
Son Heung-Min (Tottenham Hotspur) - £98m (£116m with add-ons)
Lautaro Martinez (Inter) - £82m (£91m with add-ons)
Renan Lodi (Atletico Madrid) - £56m
Manchester City went big on quality, rather than quantity, in this 2021 summer transfer window FM21 simulation.
City spent almost £100m on Spurs forward Son Heung-Min, who forced a move away from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after a poor campaign from Jose Mourinho's side.
The club also spent big on an Argentine striker, to replace their outgoing Argentine striker Aguero, with Inter's Martinez joining City for an initial fee of £82m.
Guardiola also sanctioned a move for Brazilian left-back Renan Lodi from Atletico Madrid, with the full-back costing £56m.
Transfers out: £48m
Benjamin Mendy (Lyon) - £31.5m
Jack Harrison (Leeds United) - £15m
Patrick Roberts (FC Nantes) - £900,000 (£1.2m with add-ons)
Fernandinho - Free
Sergio Aguero - Free
Eric Garcia - Free
City managed to recoup significant wages and funds through the sale of players in the FM21 2021 summer transfer sim, with Mendy, Harrison and Roberts all sold, whilst Fernandinho, Aguero and Garcia all left the club on free transfers.
So, with all these transfers completed, what could the first City lineup of the 2021/22 season look like?
The first City XI at the beginning of the 2021/22 season predicted
With the 2021 transfer window over, this is how Man City's first XI looked, with only one of the signings going straight into the starting lineup.
City's opening line-up in the first game of the 2021/22 season was as follows: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Cancelo; De Bruyne, Gundogan, Foden; Silva, Martinez, Sterling.
City 2-0 Southampton
Martinez was thrown straight into the City first eleven following his big-money move from Inter, but Son and Lodi would have to wait for their first City starts, with Guardiola keeping faith with Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker.
Ruben Dias and John Stones began the season as the first-choice Man City defensive pairing at the start of the season, whilst Phil Foden began the season as a central midfielder, alongside Gundogan and De Bruyne.
Would you be happy with these City transfers this summer?
*Football Manager (FM) is the world’s leading football management simulation title. The latest edition of the game, FM21, is out now on PC, Mac, Mobile, Touch and Xbox.
The Football Manager database currently contains data on more than 800,000 individuals and 45,000 active clubs, with data sourced from their international on the ground scouting network which numbers roughly 1,000 people, among their ranks are some who are involved in football in professional capacities, including scouts and coaches.*
