As Pep Guardiola is seven years into his time at Manchester City, we have compiled the five best players to have played under him at the Etihad Stadium.
With the Sky Blues having reigned supreme during this glittering spell under Guardiola, it was a challenge to round their finest performers down to just five players but we decided to have a stab at it.
5. Ederson Moraes: The glue that has kept the Pep Guardiola puzzle intact at Manchester City
When Manchester City signed Ederson Moraes as a long-term replacement for Claudio Bravo as their No.1 in 2017, he was quite an unknown commodity amongst most fans and pundits alike.
However, from day one, it was evident that the former Benfica shotstopper would go on to become a transformative signing.
As several teams around the world have taken the Pep Guardiola blueprint on board as the basis to form their style of play, one of the aspects they have embraced is having a goalkeeper like him in their side.
In November, Ben Foster, as a former No.1 himself acknowledged that Ederson has “changed the game” for goalkeepers since his move to the blue half of Manchester.
The 30-year-old has emerged as the fulcrum behind the Pep Guardiola way at Manchester City due to his tremendous distribution as well as allowing his team to press from the front by playing a high-line due to his ability to sweep up any danger that threatens his goal.
The five-time Premier League winner has been a constant under Guardiola at City, lifting trophies galore and having a universal impact on football, which makes him not only a club legend but one of the standout performers during his side’s ongoing golden era.
4. Ilkay Gundogan: The treble-winning Manchester City captain
Signed for a measly fee of £20 million (Guardian), Ilkay Gundogan’s arrival, much like him was rather understated.
In a summer in which Manchester United brought in big names like Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic while Chelsea signed a phenomenon like N’Golo Kante, his arrival as the first signing of the Pep Guardiola era at Manchester City was not one that grabbed many headlines.
However, in classic Ilkay Gundogan fashion, he went on to quietly go about his business and cemented his place as one of the greatest midfielders in Premier League history.
What typified Gundogan’s magnificence at City was how he constantly evolved his game in the middle of the park under Guardiola, making him the complete midfielder.
In the 2018/2019 season, the German skipper was tasked to adapt as a defensive midfielder due to Fernandinho’s recurring injury woes. However, the 33-year-old looked excellent as a No.6, playing a crucial role in his Manchester City side winning the Premier League and allowing Pep Guardiola to do so twice in a row.
That too in a season where Kevin De Bruyne was injured for a majority of the campaign. Similarly, in the 2020/2021 season, out of nowhere, Ilkay Gundogan became an elite goalscoring midfielder, scoring 13 Premier League goals as he led Manchester City, who lacked a fit and reliable striker in their ranks to their third league title under Pep Guardiola.
While last season, Gundogan embraced the role of becoming club captain and evolved himself into an advanced midfielder, while simultaneously defending in a double pivot out of possession. During the business end of the season, the former Borussia Dortmund midfielder was typically clutch as his side went on to win the treble.
In May, Kyle Walker jokingly said (via Manchester City’s official website) that his teammate turns into “prime [Zinedine] Zidane” during the last months of the campaign.
Add Ilkay Gundogan’s heroic brace off the bench against Aston Villa in the title-clincher for Manchester City in the 2021/2022 season or his stunning two goals against Manchester United in the FA Cup final in June and it is easy to see why he belongs in this list among the best players during the Pep Guardiola reign.
3. Bernardo Silva: The silk and steel that sums up the Manchester City juggernaut under Pep Guardiola
Bernardo Silva typifies several aspects of Manchester City under Pep Guardiola.
For starters, his rise over the years is proof that writing off a brand-new arrival due to a disappointing debut season under the Catalan’s reign is a fool’s game.
In addition, Bernardo Silva is also the dream Pep Guardiola player due to his unrivalled footballing intelligence.
Barring playing in between the sticks and as a centre-back, the Portuguese international has played in every possible role for City and more often than not, he has come up trumps.
The fact that the 29-year-old’s two finest individual seasons emerged in the 2018/2019 and the 2021/2022 campaigns as a right-winger and a central midfielder respectively indicates just how tactically astute a footballer he is.
Pep Guardiola’s ever-reliable Swiss Army knife has been a maestro and a menace in equal measure, capable of getting stuck in with a crunching challenge before dancing past his opponent like a seasoned ballerina.
For all of the breathtaking attacking football Manchester City have played over the years, any outfield player who shies away from the dirty work under Pep Guardiola seems to be guaranteed a place on the bench.
Bernardo Silva has been the gold standard of this very principle and he has put this into action against the very best.
Be it his instant classic of a display against Liverpool in the 2018/2019 campaign or his brilliant brace against Real Madrid in the Champions League final last season, the ex-AS Monaco technician’s rare blend of grace and grit has made him an invaluable member of one of the greatest club sides of the modern era.
2. Kyle Walker: Mr. Consistent
Until last season, it’s safe to say that Kyle Walker was yet to have a season at Manchester City that one could discount as brilliant.
But during City’s treble-winning campaign, injuries played an unfortunate role in the Englishman having a season to forget on an individual basis.
In December, Gary Neville, a legendary right-back himself crowned the 33-year-old as the greatest player in his position in Premier League history.
Under the keen eye of Pep Guardiola, Manchester City defender Kyle Walker has managed to emerge at front and centre of such conversations.
Primarily, such justified plaudits come down to the former Tottenham Hotspur stalwart’s one-of-a-kind consistency over the years.
So much so that it is almost an impossible task to name Walker’s standout season at the Etihad Stadium, as he has also had to constantly adapt to taking up brand-new responsibilities at the back due to Guardiola’s ever-changing tactical demands.
Unlike many other players in world football, Kyle Walker possesses a genuine superpower, which is virtually guaranteeing that the opposing winger is likely to have a game to forget against him.
As Bournemouth’s Max Aarons recently claimed, most left-wingers in the Premier League would admit that there is not a tougher challenge than going toe-to-toe with the decorated right-back.
Age, injuries and simply facing greatness could be used as excuses by Walker when all eyes were on him to nullify one of, if not the opposition’s biggest threat season after season.
But the former Sheffield United stalwart has always risen to the occasion for Manchester City when all eyes have been on him throughout several campaigns, which merits him a place in our list as the second greatest player during the Pep Guardiola era over the years.
1. Kevin De Bruyne: The main man of the Pep Guardiola era at Manchester City
Despite being 32 years old and set to come off the back of a lengthy injury spell, the reason why Roy Keane continues to side with a struggling City side as potential title-winners is due to the potentially difference-making return of the midfield maestro.
If this very unshakeable belief that even legends of the game have in De Bruyne does not sum up his greatness, what does?
While Pep Guardiola would perhaps admit that he could never work with a player of the ilk of Lionel Messi after he left Barcelona, he has had a protagonist of similar proportions in the context of his Manchester City side in Kevin De Bruyne.
Kevin De Bruyne is truly one of one as far as midfielders go, blessed with the game-changing impact of Yaya Toure, David Silva’s silky technique and Bernardo Silva’s graft.
The Drongen-born creator’s legacy at City, especially under Guardiola is at such a level that a debate would kickstart when trying to name his finest-ever season on an individual basis.
The same can be said for the Manchester City playmaker’s most decisive moments, be it his screamer in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu last season or his belter of a strike against defending champions, Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the 2017/2018 season that swung the title in his side’s favour.
If anyone has spearheaded Pep Guardiola’s juggernaut over the years, it is Kevin De Bruyne, without a shadow of a doubt.
