Kevin De Bruyne now the only player remaining from Man City squad Pep inherited
Kevin De Bruyne is now the only remaining player Pep Guardiola inherited when he signed on as Manchester City manager in 2016.
The midfield maestro, 31, was in company with Raheem Sterling, 27, but the speedy winger has now completed a £50million switch to Chelsea. Sterling has penned a five-year deal at Stamford Bridge, earning an eye-watering £300k-a-week, as one of the Premier League's highest earners – and could be swiftly followed by Kalidou Kouliably after the Blues agreed a £33.8m fee with Napoli for the Senegal captain.
With veteran anchorman Fernandinho also moving on to pastures new in his homeland of Brazil, the 37-year-old joined boyhood club Athletico Paranaense on the expiration of his contract, De Bruyne is now the sole player remaining at Man City from the end of the 2015/16 season.
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Succeeding Manuel Pellegrini in the Etihad hot seat in the summer of 2016, Guardiola immediately went about revamping the Cityzens squad to suit his dominant possession-based style of football. Aside from De Bruyne and Sterling, only Vincent Kompany, David Silva, Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero, Fabien Delph and Nicolas Otamendi survived the mass cull as the Spaniard splashed the cash in the transfer market.
John Stones, Leroy Sane, Ilkay Gundogan, Gabriel Jesus, Claudio Bravo, Nolito, Marlos Moreno and Oleksandr Zinchenko were all purchased for a combined £190m, whilst only Stevan Jovetic and Edin Dzeko were sold for any real valuable figure.
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England's first-choice goalkeeper Joe Hart had enjoyed eight successful seasons in Manchester, but even he fell victim to Guardiola's ruthlessness and was sent out on loan to Torino, and subsequently West Ham, before being flogged to Burnley.
Yet the Spaniard's domineering nature soon paid dividends. City have now racked up four Premier League titles, four League Cups and an FA Cup crown after a trophyless first season under the former Barcelona boss – though only De Bruyne has survived the test of time.
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