Pep Guardiola insists his Manchester City side 'will not change' the way they play despite losing three players and adding new talent to the squad. City will go head-to-head with Liverpool once again in Saturday's Community Shield clash.
Liverpool 's Premier League title rivals have sold key players Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus along with Oleksandr Zinchenko to Chelsea and Arsenal. The trio have been replaced by Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez and England international Kalvin Phillips.
The Reds pushed City all the way last season before losing out on the title by one point on the final day of the campaign after Guardiola's side came from 2-0 down to beat Aston Villa 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium.
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Guardiola said to the City official website: "We will not change the way we play. We will adapt these players. We want Erling Haaland, Kalvin Phillips and Julian Alvarez to give us the best version of them. The feeling is really good."
The City manager spoke of the decision to let Sterling, Jesus and Zinchenko leave the club all in the same window: "There are decisions for the club and decisions for the players. I said from day one since arriving here you have to be where you want to be.
"All I can say on Raheem, Gabriel, and Oleksandr is that all we have done this season, without them would not have been possible. Raheem made this explosion of something incredible and unpredictable. I saw his ambition to score more goals and assists grow. I would say the impact for the way he played and never got injured was top.
"Oleksandr arriving as a boy, he went on loan to Holland, we wanted to sell him and he said no I want to stay here. He was in the gym when everyone was sleeping, making extra training sessions and he said his time was come.
"His time came and he was ready. He is a top-class player and we will miss him. As a guy he can handle the pressure incredibly well and he has incredible self-confidence. Gabriel is the nicest player I ever worked with and it was a huge task to compete with Sergio Aguero."
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