As the end of the year draws closer, so does the January transfer window.
Manchester City have been pretty frugal when it comes to spending halfway through the season - Aymeric Laporte and Gabriel Jesus are the only players to have arrived outside of the summer window since Pep Guardiola became manager.
But with a busy summer on the horizon for City, that won't stop the transfer talk cranking up a few levels.
That got us thinking - who are the best signings made during the Guardiola era? Believe us, it was not easy to whittle this list down to five!
Ruben Dias
Few players in the history of the Premier League, never mind just City, have had such a transformative impact on a club's fortunes upon arrival as Ruben Dias.
City were a defensive mess in 2019/20, and that carried over into the following season as the 2-5 home defeat to Leicester showed.
Two days after that shock result City signed Dias from Benfica for £61m and he has been worth every penny.
The Portuguese centre-back instantly looked at home marshalling a Premier League defence, and it was the partnership he struck up with John Stones, a defender who had previously struggled at City, that formed the foundation of their title charge.
This year Dias has been just as impressive playing alongside Laporte, while his leadership qualities are second to none.
Ederson
Ederson can claim to be Guardiola's best signing because City simply would not be able to play in Pep's style without him.
After the Claudio Bravo experiment spectacularly backfired, City parted with £36m in order to bring Ederson over from Benfica.
The possession-based style that Guardiola has implemented at City requires a goalkeeper who can help start attacks from the back and also act as a sweeper to snuff out danger. No one does it better than Ederson.
At Barcelona Guardiola had Victor Valdes and at Bayern Munich he had Manuel Neuer, but Ederson is arguably better with his feet than both.
The kind of 'modern' goalkeeping that Ederson represents had never been seen in the Premier League before, but now everyone is trying to play out from the back.
Kyle Walker
Kyle Walker is arguably the most underappreciated signing of the Guardiola era. Signed from Tottenham in 2017 as part of Pep's great squad overhaul, Walker has long been pigeonholed as a defender who relies solely on his pace to get himself out of sticky situations.
The truth could not be further from that.
While his acceleration does prove handy when opponents look to counter City, there are few full-backs in world football capable of performing (to a high level) Guardiola's tactical and positional tweaks.
At City Walker has played as a traditional right-back, a wing-back and as a centre-back in a back three. What has been most impressive, however, is the ease with which he plays the inverted full-back role, pushing into midfield when City are in possession in order to open up more passing options and create space.
A pace merchant wouldn't be able to do that, surely?
Rodri
For the first 18 months of his City career, Rodri looked likely to join the rubbish heap of past City midfield flops, such were his struggles to adapt to the intensity of the Premier League and Guardiola's system.
This season everything seems to have clicked, with the 25-year-old Spain international regarded as the best holding midfielder in the world.
As an unconventional number six he is crucial to the way City play, as he attracts pressure from opponents in order to allow the inverted full-backs, and players like Bernardo Silva who drop back, time and space to progress the ball forwards.
His defensive abilities, as well as passing and vision, have come on leaps and bounds this season.
They said finding a Fernandinho replacement would be impossible, but Txiki Begiristain has done it.
Bernardo Silva
How do you even begin to sum up how good Bernardo Silva is??
Bought from Monaco for £45m in 2017, Bernardo experienced a quiet start to life at City before emerging as an offensive and defensive powerhouse in 2018/19. He dropped off a little the following two seasons, but this campaign he has arguably been the best player in the league.
He's a fantastic dribbler, he can receive the ball under pressure, he has superb vision, his work rate is relentless and he drops deep to progress the ball.
Oh, and he named his dog John after teammate John Stones. Get the lifetime contract drawn up, Txiki!
Who do you think is the best signing made during Guardiola's reign at City? Follow our City Is Ours writer Alex Brotherton on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
