Man City: The insane squad of players Pep Guardiola has let go since his arrival | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has transformed Manchester City into the best club side in the world.

Make no mistake, City were already one of Europe's most dominant teams before the Spaniard took over in 2016 but since his arrival, the Citizens have become a near unbeatable force.

Indeed, Guardiola has inspired City to five Premier League titles, two FA Cups, four League Cups and their first-ever Champions League crown.

This includes a remarkable treble in the 2022/23 campaign, which led many to hail Guardiola's squad as one of the best club sides of all time.

In his seven years as City boss, Guardiola has recruited fantastically well – bringing in world-class players such as Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Ruben Dias to name just a few.

But it may be easily forgotten just how many big-name stars have left during his tenure as well.

While not all of these players have exited at Guardiola's request, you'd be shocked at how many top footballers Pep's let go.

To emphasise this, we've put together an insane squad of players that have departed the club since Guardiola's arrival in Manchester.

At the time of writing this, Riyad Mahrez looks set to move to Saudi Arabia, though the move has not been finalised. As a result, we've left him out of this team for the time being.

GK: Joe Hart

Looking back, perhaps Guardiola was justified in letting Hart leave Man City, especially given how successful Ederson has been but that doesn't change the fact that the Englishman was one of the best keepers on the planet when the Spaniard first arrived.

Having been City's first-choice keeper for eight seasons, Hart was part of two Premier League triumphs and won two League Cups as well as the FA Cup.

Guardiola, however, immediately decided that Hart wasn't good enough with the ball at his feet and shipped him out to Torino on loan.

He's never been the same player ever since.

Porro signed for Man City from Girona in August 2019 for a reported £11 million.

However, he made no appearances for the club and was immediately loaned to Real Valladolid, before signing for Sporting Lisbon for only £7.2 million in 2022.

Fast forward half a season and Tottenham

CB: Vincent Kompany

Kompany is a Man City legend in every sense of the word and captained the club to four Premier League titles – two of which came under Pep.

But the Spaniard could not persuade the Belgian to see out his career at the club, with Kompany deciding to take up a player/manager role at Anderlecht.

Kompany is now the manager of Burnley and has adopted a style of play similar to that of Guardiola.

He's far from the only manager attempting to copy the City boss either!

CB: Eric Garcia

On paper, Garcia is everything Guardiola seems to like in a defender – quick, technically sound and has an excellent passing range.

But after playing just 35 times in three seasons, the centre-back rejected a contract extension and moved to Barcelona.

There's he's played 68 times in two years and has also made 19 appearances for Spain.

LB: Oleksandr Zinchenko

As we've already mentioned, City are hardly lacking talented defenders and tend not to operate with out-and-out left-backs in their current formation, yet they may still live to regret allowing Zinchenko to leave.

In fairness, City could hardly have imagined Arsenal being their main title rivals a year ago, but the Ukranian has been outstanding for the Gunners since his arrival.

The 26-year-old moved for just £30 million as well – an absolute steal in today's market.

CM: Yaya Toure

Toure is another City icon, who is widely considered one of the best midfielders to ever grace the Premier League.

But he was past his best by the time Guardiola arrived and fell out of favour under the Spaniard.

When the Ivory Coast star was left out of City's Champions League squad in 2016, Touré's agent, Dimitri Seluk, subsequently stated that Guardiola humiliated Touré by omitting him from the first team.

Despite later apologising, Toure and Guardiola's relationship never recovered and he eventually left the club in 2018, re-signing for former club Olympiacos.

CM: David Silva

For many City fans, Silva is the club's greatest-ever player.

Across a decade of seasons, Silva played more than 400 games and won countless trophies.

Guardiola did his best to keep Silva but in the end the Spanish midfielder decided to join Real Sociedad on a free transfer.

Speaking on Silva's exit, Guardiola said: "In the end, if he has to leave, it is because football is like this; the player has a desire."

CM: Ilkay Gundogan

Gundogan captained City to their historic treble last season and played an integral role along the way.

Indeed, the German scored a sublime volley in the FA Cup final against Manchester United and his performances across the season in general garnered plenty of plaudits.

While Guardiola expressed his desire to keep his captain, Gundogan opted not to sign a new contract and joined Barcelona earlier this summer.

LW: Raheem Sterling

Admittedly, this actually looks to have been a great bit of business by Guardiola.

The Spaniard transformed Sterling into one of the most prolific wingers in the Premier League during his prime.

But after the arrival of Jack Grealish and the form of Phil Foden, Sterling's minutes became limited and he opted to join Chelsea at the start of the 2022/23 season.

It's not worked out at all for the Englishman as the Blues endured a horror season.

Meanwhile, City pocketed a healthy £48 million.

RW: Leroy Sane

Sane was one of Guardiola's first City signings, having impressed the Spaniard while playing for Schalke in the Bundesliga.

The German established himself as one of the best youngsters in Europe but eventually grew frustrated with Guardiola's tendency o rotate regularly.

In June 2020, he rejected a contract extension with City and joined Bayern Munich on a five-year contract.

ST: Gabriel Jesus

Similarly to Zinchenko, you can hardly blame City for selling to Arsenal.

Yet, there's no denying the Citizens strengthened the Gunners by agreeing to sell them the Brazilian star.

Jesus had expected to feature more for City after the departure of Sergio Aguero, but Pep preferred to play a false nine formation, prior to the arrival of Haaland.

He thus signed a five-year contract with Arsenal for a reported £45 million.

Substitutes: Geronimo Rulli, Jesus Navas, Angelino, Fernandinho, Ferran Torres, Jadon Sancho, Sergio Aguero

Rulli is another player to have signed for the club under Pep, only to never play a game.

The Argentine keeper was eventually sold to Real Sociedad and established himself as their first-choice keeper.

Navas, meanwhile, played 36 games for City during Guardiola's first season but then left the club at the end of the season.

He was 31 at the time and many believed he may be past his best, but Navas has developed into a talented wing-back at Sevilla and is still going strong at the age of 37.

Put Angelino in the category of talented wing-backs deemed surplus to requirements by Pep.

The defender played just 12 games under Guardiola before being sold to RB Leipzig.

If you haven't already realised, Guardiola seems to have a habit of letting his captains leave the club.

Kompany and Gundogan have already been mentioned but Fernandinho was a similarly brilliant leader for the club.

The midfielder played almost 400 matches for City but eventually left in 2022 – opting to return to Brazil and sign for Athletico Paranaense.

Now onto forwards. Torres scored 13 goals in his debut season with the club but was another who failed to come to terms with Pep's policy of rotation.

He joined Barcelona in January 2022, though the Catalonian club are now reportedly ready to cash in on the Spanish international.

Man United paid more than £70 million to sign Sancho, but did you know he started his career at Man City?

Despite being a highly-rated youngster, Guardiola chose to allow him to join Borussia Dortmund, where he became one of the best young prospects in Europe.

Finishing things off, we have to mention Aguero. No doubt City's best striker ever, he left the club in 2022 as the club's record goalscorer.

After the Argentine played his final game, Guardiola famously became emotional on the pitch and hailed Aguero's impact.

"We cannot replace him. We cannot," he stressed.

Little did he know, however, that a season later, Haaland would arrive at the club.

The rest, as we know, is history.

So there you have it, an entire squad of players who have left the club since Guardiola arrived.

Perhaps the club should have held on to some, but given the club's recent success, they're hardly likely to mind.