- Pep Guardiola is in his ninth season at Manchester City, having joined the club in the summer of 2016
- The Spaniard has won every trophy possible, including the club’s first UEFA Champions League
- He started with the overhauling of the squad he met, even though they had won two titles before him
Pep Guardiola is in his ninth season at Manchester City and has cemented his status as one of the greatest managers to ever coach in the Premier League.
He started with a trophyless season on his arrival in 2016 and made many changes to the squad going forward, making them one of the best ever assembled in the English top flight.
Super Eagles forward Kelechi Iheanacho was one of the first 10 victims of his clearance when he was sold to 2016 Premier League champions Leicester City.
TUKO.co.ke looks at the first 10 players he sold at the Etihad in no particular order, as first called by Planet Football.
Guardiola’s first 10 sales at City
1. Kelechi Iheanacho
Iheanacho joined City a year after winning the 2013 FIFA U17 World Cup as the tournament’s best player. He spent two seasons in the first team before he was sold to Leicester City in 2017. He spent seven years with the Foxes and joined Sevilla as a free agent last summer.
2. Jesus Navas
Navas left City at the end of Guardiola’s first season in 2017 and reinvented himself as a right-back at Sevilla. He turns 39 years old today and is still active even though he has settled for a limited role at the record UEFA Europa League winners this season.
3. Bruno Zuculini
The Argentine midfielder was a Man City player for three years but never made an appearance, going on multiple loans before he was sold to Hellas Verona in 2017. The Italians sold him to River Plate after one season. He joined his boyhood team, Racing Club, in January.
4. Fernando
Like many others on this list, the Brazilian midfielder spent a season with Guardiola before he decided it was enough and shipped them. Since leaving England in 2017, he has played for Galatasaray, Sevilla, Vila Nova and currently plays for Internacional.
5. Willy Caballero – retired (2023) and currently an assistant to Enzo Maresca at Chelsea.
6. Gael Clichy – retired (2023) and currently France U21 assistant manager.
7. Bacary Sagna – retired (2020) and is a businessman in France.
8. Pablo Zabaleta – retired (2020) and currently Albania’s assistant coach.
9. Nolito – retired (2023)
10. Aleksandr Kolarov – retired and is currently Serbia U21 head coach.
Iheanacho sends message to Leicester City
TUKO.co.ke reported that Iheanacho joined Leicester City in 2017, a year after the Foxes won the Premier League title after spending two years at Manchester City following his exploits at the 2013 FIFA U17 World Cup.
Iheanacho, the club’s fifth summer signing, was officially unveiled as a new Sevilla player on 1st August, and he took to his social media pages to bid farewell to his former club.
He has yet to find his feet since joining Sevilla. He has two goals, both of which came in the Copa del Rey against a lower league side and is waiting for his first La Liga goal.
