Pep Guardiola's first season in charge at Manchester City certainly did not go according to plan. The Spaniard only managed to guide his team to a third place finish and for the first time in his managerial career he failed to win a trophy.
Guardiola was never going to turn Manchester City into one of Europe's elite clubs overnight or just in one season. But given his managerial success they expect him to do so in the coming years so the City fans should not be too worried about how the 2016/17 season went.
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The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager signed a six-year deal when he joined the blue side of Manchester and he was always going to have a tough time settling in the Premier League. His first season in the Premier League was unlike how it was in the La Liga or the Bundesliga and the Manchester City owners realised that in order to become one of the best clubs, the Spaniard needed time.
Guardiola now has a better understanding how things work in the Premier League and now he will certainly be expected to improve on his third place finish and probably win a trophy too next season. In the hopes of achieving that next season, Guardiola has already released five first team players with a number of new signings expected over the summer.
So far Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy, Jesus Navas, and Willy Caballero have all been released by the club. While the likes of Joe Hart, Samir Nasri, Eliaquim Mangala and Wilfried Bony who spent the season on loan are also expected to move on in the summer.
The Manchester City owners have never been shy to take out their cheque book and that is not going to stop this summer either. Guardiola already has a number of top players like Kevin De Bruyne, Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero but he still needs a few players particularly in defence to take his team to the next level.
With both of City's right backs set to leave the club, Guardiola has set his sights on Tottenham right back Kyle Walker. The England International's future has been in doubt for some time now and Walker also posted nine pictures on his Instagram account that spelt Thank you further hinting he could be leaving.
A goalkeeper should be another priority for Manchester City with Caballero leaving and Claudio Bravo struggling. However, the Citizens have not been linked with any goalkeepers recently and we could see Bravo back in goal at the start of next season. Despite struggling, Guardiola still rates the Chilean very highly and could give him another chance next season.
And finally, City have also been linked with a move for Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean's contract talks seem to be going nowhere at Arsenal and Guardiola could be set to make a move for him. The two worked together during their time at Barcelona so he won't have any problems adjusting to his style of playing.
