Pep Guardiola is about to take over as the new manager of Manchester City and it’s almost certain that he will bring in a number of new faces

It’s that time of the year again. As we stand here on the brink of another summer, the embers of the past season glisten behind us. As far as Manchester City are concerned, the last season was a very disappointing one for us, although we’re glad to have won a piece of silverware to add to our collections. Looking ahead, though, things appear to be really exciting for us Cityzens as we head in to probably the biggest summer that we’ve had in years.

Pep Guardiola is about to begin his reign as the boss of Manchester City and what that means for the hundreds of thousands of City fans across the globe is a lot of exciting days to look forward to. Already the effects of the Guardiola reign are being felt as the media have been regularly coughing up names of some talented players that we could be looking to buy over the summer.

Schalke young gun Leroy Sane is one player whose name is supposed to be high on the City shopping list

Reinforcements are needed by our squad ahead of what could be a landmark season for us and it’s not surprising to hear so many names being linked to us. Renato Sanches was of course one big name that was linked to us and seeing him get snapped up by Bayern was really a hard pill to swallow. Leroy Sane is turning out to be yet another highly rated youngster who we are supposed to be after. The Schalke attacker has the whole of Europe running after him and some of the tabloids here in the UK are suggesting that City are in a tug-of-war with United for the 40m pound man.

Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gundogan is being lined up as a possible replacement for Yaya Toure whose City days could be up

Other than midfield, our defence is another area that needs sorting out. Martin Demichelis looks all set to leave the Etihad after three seasons with us, and his departure makes room for one more centre-half. Athletic Bilbao sensation Aymeric Laporte and Everton talisman John Stones are two names that have been constantly linked to us. Doubts have crept up about any potential moves for both these players as Laporte is currently out of action after breaking his leg back in March. Similarly, Stones has suffered a tremendous loss in form and question marks have been raised about the Englishman’s ability to deal with pressure.

Another player whose been linked with a move to City for a long time before injury cast a doubt on any possible move is Dortmund star Ilkay Gundogan. The 25-year-old German dislocated a knee cap earlier in the season and will now miss out on his nation’s Euro 2016 campaign. Gundogan was being lined up to replace Yaya Toure whose future at Manchester City has come under question. The Ivorian star has looked a shadow of his former self this season and rumours of his sale are rife.

City talisman Yaya Toure’s time at the Etihad may well be up after the midfielder suffered a tremendous drop in form this season

All in all, this summer looks all set to be one of great importance as it will be the first opportunity for Guardiola to arrange the squad as per his likes and it’ll be very interesting to see who the Spaniard brings in and who he leaves out as he aspires to take City to the top of the European game.