Pep Guardiola’s Man City XI in his first Premier League game in 2016 – Where are they now?

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Pep Guardiola’s time at Manchester City has been one for the history books.

Guardiola well and truly came, saw and conquered English football at Manchester City — winning six Premier League titles, the Champions League in a treble-winning season, two FA Cups, four Carabao Cups, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup in what has well and truly been a legendary reign.

But when City appointed Pep Guardiola from Bayern Munich in 2016, the Catalan would not have know that he would go on to dominate the English game like he has. Guardiola’s first test in the Premier League came against David Moyes’ Sunderland side at the Etihad Stadium, which his side won 2-1.

While Sergio Aguero gave the Sky Blues the perfect start by dispatching a penalty in the fourth minute, Jermain Defoe equalised in the 71st minute to send nerves down the home fans’ spines.

Luckily for the hosts, Kelechi Iheanacho’s strike struck Paddy McNair’s head and nestled into the back of the net in the 87th minute to hand Pep Guardiola his first win in the Premier League.

But as Manchester City are a much-changed outfit now, several of the players that were started by Pep Guardiola against Sunderland have moved on to other pursuits.

Willy Caballero- Chelsea assistant manager

From day one, Guardiola did not fancy Joe Hart in between the sticks because he lacked the ball-playing ability to become his number one. With that being the case, Pep Guardiola started Willy Caballero against Sunderland, who was certainly superior to Hart in this respect.

In the same season, Caballero went on to make 25 starts for Manchester City in all competitions but he was relegated to the status of becoming Guardiola’s second-choice goalkeeper after Claudio Bravo came through the door and became his number one.

The Argentine, who was a solid shotstopper left the Sky Blues in the following summer and is currently Chelsea’s assistant manager.

Bacary Sagna- Retired

Bacary Sagna started at right-back in Pep Guardiola’s first league game in charge of Manchester City against Sunderland.

Sagna has revealed how demanding Guardiola is but the Frenchman seemingly did not whittle under the pressure of playing under the Catalan — who started 19 games in all competitions during the 2016/2017 campaign.

But Pep Guardiola moved the former Arsenal defender on in the following summer, who signed for Benevento and in 2019, he retired at Montreal Impact.

John Stones- Manchester City

John Stones was Pep Guardiola’s second signing at Manchester City and he still remains at the club.

Against Sunderland, all eyes were on Stones to see how he fares after making the step up from Everton to one of the biggest clubs in Europe.

As Jude Bellingham once claimed, Stones is elite player and against the Black Cats, he looked the part as well. The England international’s debut season, however was not the best as he made quite a few errors but still managed to muster up 36 starts across all competitions.

Aleksandar Kolarov- Retired

Surprisingly, Pep Guardiola instantly deployed a high-flying left-back like Aleksandar Kolarov as a centre-back against Sunderland and he persisted with the experiment during his first few weeks as Manchester City boss.

Kolarov did a serviceable job but looked far more at ease when played in his natural position.

But Pep Guardiola perhaps liked the Serbian in the position because of how technically sound he was. In the following summer, the former City defender was a part of a major squad overhaul in 2017 and signed for Roma and proceeded to retire at Inter Milan in 2022.

Kolarov was a hit in Italy and perhaps one of the reasons why that was the case is because of how much he learned from Pep Guardiola in a single season — starting 37 games in his final season at Manchester City.

Gael Clichy- France Under-21 assistant manager

Gael Clichy has credited Pep Guardiola for changing his worldview about the game.

The Frenchman spent just one season at Manchester City under Guardiola but evidently enjoyed the experience of working with one of the best managers in the history of the game.

Gael Clichy was past his prime in his final season at City but was still trusted by Pep Guardiola — starting 35 games in all competitions.

Clichy’s management style is inspired by Guardiola’s, who has been managing the French Under-21 side.

Fernandinho- Athletico Paranaense

Fernandinho left Manchester City on a high by captaining them to a Premier League title as recently in 2022.

Since then, the 39-year-old has been playing for Brazilian club Athletico Paranaense.

Fernandinho, who is one of Manchester City’s greatest-ever signings started against Sunderland and became an instant favourite of Pep Guardiola’s — starting 42 matches in total.

David Silva- Retired

David Silva retired in 2023 after suffering an unfortunate ACL injury at Real Sociedad in 2023. Pep Guardiola started David Silva as one of his two attacking midfielders against Sunderland for Manchester City and unsurprisingly, he instantly fit in the Spaniard’s system.

The Spaniard went on to play some of the best football of his career under Guardiola, especially in the following campaign during City’s historic ‘Centurions’ season.

David Silva left Manchester City in 2020, playing for four seasons under Pep Guardiola.

In the 2016/2017 season, the World Cup winner started 42 games in all competitions for City.

Kevin De Bruyne- Manchester City

Kevin De Bruyne, alongside Stones is one of the two players who started against Sunderland who is still a Manchester City player.

De Bruyne could stay at Manchester City for another season and spent 11 seasons at the Etihad Stadium.

From day one, the Belgian was indispensable in Pep Guardiola’s setup — starting 44 games in all competitions while scoring six times and providing 20 assists in his second

Raheem Sterling- Arsenal (on loan from Chelsea)

Raheem Sterling instantly proved to be a bright spark against Sunderland, winning the penalty that led to Aguero’s opener against Sunderland in 2016.

Sterling, who is currently on loan from Chelsea at Arsenal started 40 matches in total during the same season and went on to become one of Pep Guardiola’s most important players.

Guardiola seemingly took a liking to the England international from the get-go, playing him on the right-wing — a season after he played on the left flank at City and the experiment instantly worked.

Sergio Aguero- Retired

Sergio Aguero retired at Barcelona after suffering a cardiac arrhythmia, months after leaving Manchester City in 2021.

Aguero went on to become Pep Guardiola’s most important forward at Manchester City and even scored the first goal to kickstart the former Barcelona boss’ time in the Premier League.

At the time, the former Atletico Madrid marksman was one of the Sky Blues’ two centre-forwards alongside Iheanacho. In the same season, Aguero started 38 games in all competitions.

Nolito- Retired

Nolito, who was one of Manchester City’s signings in the summer of 2016 and Pep Guardiola gave him his first start in the Premier League against Sunderland.

The Spaniard, who started on the left flank had a quiet game and a quiet season as well — with City happy to sell him the year later.

Nolito started just 18 games in all competitions during his one and only campaign at the Etihad Stadium, which goes to show that Pep Guardiola never really fancied him.

The Spanish forward retired at Ibiza two years ago.