Manchester City have had an encouraging start to the season, especially considering a tough run of fixtures.
A squad that had barely any pre-season as a result of their players at the European Championship and Copa America have already had to travel to Chelsea, Liverpool, Leicester and Tottenham - as well as Champions League favourites Paris Saint-Germain - in their opening ten games but are well placed in the early stages of the three competitions they have started in.
With some breathing space to look back on the beginning of a campaign that Pep Guardiola is enthusiastic about, here is a look at some of the players in the squad who have stood out in the opening matches for reasons good or otherwise. Given the way things have gone, there are obviously more positives.
The winners
Bernardo Silva
Bernardo may not have felt like a winner when the transfer window slammed shut and no club had come in to take him away from Manchester, but you wouldn't tell from the performances that have followed.
A man who makes marathon runners look lazy hasn't stopped scampering about the pitch since and combines that incredible work ethic with sublime quality on the ball, not least when he made half the Liverpool team look silly in what was nearly one of the great assists.
Guardiola cannot even hear the player's name without a beaming smile flashing over his face, and has been delighted to see him back at the levels when City won the league in 2019.
A manager's dream and also a favourite for the fans back in stadiums.
Aymeric Laporte
Another throwback to that campaign has seen Laporte reclaim his place at the heart of the defence.
He was always meant to be the partner for Ruben Dias when City brought in the Portugal international last season, with one starting the build-up from the left and the other stopping all attacks from the right, only for Laporte's mistakes to let Stones in for an opportunity he took full advantage of.
After a successful Euros, the Spanish centre-back has taken his chance and seriously impressed Guardiola to mean a spot in the team is now his to lose again.
A mention too for Dias, who rival fans were quick to write off over the summer but has now presided over conceding three goals in seven games.
Jack Grealish
Perhaps it is to be expected after a record £100m move, but there has been an awful lot of commentary around Jack Grealish's performances.
The standout in Aston Villa's side has had a pretty quiet start to life in Manchester going off a record of two goals and two assists and middling displays against PSG and Liverpool.
Grealish, however, is playing a different role in a different team now and shouldn't be expected to stick out in a side where the collective triumphs over individuals every time. The greatest compliment that can be paid to him is that he has started more than any other forward this season, consistently earning his place in the team every week.
With Phil Foden fully fit there will be more competition, but it has been a quietly effective start from Grealish.
Kyle Walker
It is just so easy to forget how brilliant Kyle Walker is, so thank goodness for the reflection time that international breaks allow.
After a busy summer with England, the 31-year-old got his head back in the game and instantly recaptured the level that makes him one of Guardiola's most reliable players. It is a feat in itself to keep Joao Cancelo out of his favoured position, but the unique abilities that Walker possesses and his remarkable understanding of what his manager and his team want from him enable him to keep going.
One of City's best buys and still going strong. There are only nine players in the division - and only five outfield players - with more than his 322 Premier League appearances, and that experience shows every week.
Gabriel Jesus
City's transfer market intentions made clear that Jesus was not seen as the successor to Sergio Aguero, and when he told the manager he preferred to play out wide it felt like he was asking for trouble: good luck getting a game against such incredibly tough competition.
Instead, the Brazilian has been the surprise success of the season so far with four assists and two goals in the league meaning he tops both charts for City and has also had more goal involvements than his teammates in all competitions.
His involvement with the national team likely means that he won't start the first game back after the break but anyone coming into that spot knows they need something special to keep him out of the team.
The losers
Raheem Sterling
England's best player can't get a game for his club and the weird thing is that it isn't weird to anyone who watches City regularly.
Guardiola has made it clear that you have to perform every week to keep your place and Sterling hasn't been able to do that for most of this calendar year; since starring in City's 4-1 win at Anfield in February he has more goals (five) for England in 11 appearances than he does for City (four) in 30.
Sterling has come good before at the Etihad but is in a precarious position with less than two years left on his contract and Grealish and Foden both looking stronger options currently on the left side.
The pressure is on the player to prove himself all over again.
John Stones
A mixture of injuries and the form of others have meant that Stones hasn't kicked a ball yet for City this season, the closest he got to action being a post-match sprint session on the Stamford Bridge pitch.
There isn't much to worry about given how excellent he was last season - a new deal signed this summer reflects how he is valued at the club - but again the responsibility is on Stones to show that this unfortunate combination keeping him out of the team is the blip rather than the levels he reached last year.
Riyad Mahrez
If it seems harsh to put Mahrez in the losers column (and his passionate fanbase will certainly disagree) when he is the top scorer so far, the disappointment is that he looked like he was set for so much more.
With so many in the squad away with international commitments this summer, Mahrez was front and centre of Guardiola's plans for pre-season and looked a cut above everyone else. However, an ineffective performance in a limp team display at Tottenham on the opening day saw him cede his place to Jesus and Mahrez hasn't started any of the six league games since.
Clearly, the manager wants more and any advantage that the Algerian had in the summer has now been wiped out.
