Pep Guardiola is confident Erling Haaland and the rest of Manchester City's new signings will settle in swiftly, though he acknowledged the Premier League champions have lost some key players.
Club stalwart Fernandinho left when his contract expired at the end of last season, and City have sold three other players who played a role in Guardiola's success, with Raheem Sterling joining Chelsea while Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko departed for Arsenal.
City already have most of their replacements through the door. Julian Alvarez was signed in January and has now linked up with the squad, while a deal was struck with Borussia Dortmund for prolific striker Haaland in May.
Kalvin Phillips has been signed from Leeds United to bolster City's midfield and Stefan Ortega has joined as a back-up goalkeeper, facilitating a loan move to Middlesbrough for Zack Steffen.
City's new recruits could get their first taste of competitive action on Saturday, when Guardiola's side face FA Cup winners Liverpool in the Community Shield.
Though he has been impressed with how quickly the new arrivals have started their City careers, Guardiola emphasised how important the players who have moved on were to his squad.
He told a news conference: "If you analyse what happened in the last years, without these important players it would be difficult to imagine it. We wish all of them the best.
"New people arrived, they settled quickly, down to earth and very humble people. We are going to try, this is Manchester City, we are all of us, we try to be a competitive team, to win our first title.
"It's an honour to compete again [for the Community Shield], we will try to do a good game against an opponent we know well, it will dictate a little bit how is our moment, our level. Two, three weeks of pre-season is too short, but I saw many good things in this period."
Asked if it would take time for his new players to adapt, Guardiola said: "Hopefully not, the quicker they settle the better. It's my feeling they will not take time.
"Stefan surprised us a lot, how good he is on the ball and with our build-up, Kalvin knows the Premier League perfectly. The way they've listened, behaved, the minutes they've played. I think they'll settle quickly."
Guardiola was pressed on whether this was a "reset" the squad required, but the former Bayern Munich and Barcelona boss stressed that was not necessarily the case.
"Sometimes the transfer market dictates what you want to do," he explained. "The first season when we arrived we tried to loan, sell players and could not. This year I do not know what happened.
"Sometimes you want to do things, but it depends not just how good or bad we are but on the situations, and these situations happened quicker than we expected.
"The three players who have been sold, if they stayed with us they would have been incredibly happy. I know them, they [would have] continued to do what they had done. These situations have happened, we make our replacements, and they are here.
"Normally when a project is six, seven years, you are not seven years with the same people. When I arrived there was just Kevin [De Bruyne]. We have gratitude for the guys that were here. All the players have made an incredible contribution, we can only be grateful."
City are interested in signing Brighton and Hove Albion left-back Marc Cucurella, who on Friday was said to have handed in a transfer request in an attempt to push through a move, with the Seagulls reportedly holding out for a £50million fee.
Guardiola refused to comment further, though he did note it was an area of the pitch City would like to strengthen if possible.
Aymeric Laporte, meanwhile, is likely to be out until at least September after having knee surgery, Guardiola confirmed.
Everton safe as reality bites for Leeds and Leicester – 5 Premier League things
Abdoulaye Doucoure’s goal saw Everton stave off the threat of relegation on the final day of the Premier League season as Leicester and Leeds suffered the drop.
With the title and top four already sewn up, all eyes had been on the battle at the bottom and the fight for European places.
Here, the PA news agency looks at five things from the final day of the season.
Dyche delivers for EvertonSean Dyche was perhaps not a fashionable appointment when Everton turned to him after Frank Lampard’s exit, but he has done enough – just enough – to keep the Toffees in the top flight after Sunday’s 1-0 win over Bournemouth. One of Dyche’s biggest decisions was to restore Abdoulaye Doucoure to his starting line-up, and it was the Mali midfielder who got the all-important goal at Goodison Park. Dyche’s experience in battling at the bottom helped the club keep their heads amid the pressure. Given their financial issues off the pitch, survival seems seismic for Everton. A big summer awaits as fans continue to call for change at board level, and a Premier League investigation into potential breaches of profit and sustainability rules looms. But solving those issues should at least be a little easier as a Premier League club.
Reality bites for Leicester and LeedsAs Everton breathed a sigh of relief, Leicester and Leeds had the bitter taste of relegation on the final day. For Leicester, the drop into the Championship comes only seven years after their magical title-winning season, the scale of the decline in the last 12 months startling. Their failure to replace Kasper Schmeichel and Wesley Fofana already seemed a major oversight even before injuries hit, and the board must take responsibility for their failure to invest in the squad. With several players out of contract this summer, a major rebuild is in prospect. Leeds also need a reset. They only narrowly avoided the drop last season, but have never found an identity since the exit of Marcelo Bielsa more than a year ago.
Passports out for VillaIn a season when there has been a record number of managerial sackings with 10 clubs making a change, three of them more than one, the most dramatic impact has been the one made by Unai Emery at Aston Villa. The Villans took only nine points from 11 games under Steven Gerrard, but Sunday’s 2-1 win over Brighton secures seventh place and European football for the first time in 13 years. They have gone from a side that were facing a relegation battle to one who have finished 17 points better off than their previous campaign. Given the Spaniard’s proud record in Europe – he is a four-time winner of the Europa League – perhaps they should plan for a long run in the Europa Conference League.
Over and out from Xhaka?Granit Xhaka has had his troubles at Arsenal, having once been booed off the pitch amid a sometimes fractious relationship with the club and the fans, but he was serenaded on Sunday. The 30-year-old has a year left on his contract and has been strongly linked with a move to Germany as Arsenal plan midfield upgrades. Xhaka scored twice in Sunday’s 5-0 rout of Wolves, taking him to 10 goals in a season in which Arsenal gave fans real belief they could challenge for the title. If this was the end, Arsenal will feel very different about seeing him go than they once might have.
Big questions for SpursTottenham enjoyed a 4-1 win over Leeds on the final day but it was not enough to get them into Europe as they missed out on qualification for the first time since 2008-09. In a summer in which Daniel Levy must again find a new permanent manager, that is a major blow. Harry Kane scored twice at Elland Road, but they could prove his final goals for the club as he enters the final year of his contract, surely considering his options given his desire to be challenging for silverware. Kane has once again reached 30 goals but he has done it in a malfunctioning side, and the England captain will know he is worthy of better. Whether or not Tottenham can again convince him they are capable of offering it to him remains to be seen.
Frank Lampard believes Chelsea standards have slipped as cheerless campaign ends
Frank Lampard said he believes the standards at Chelsea have dropped after he signed off as interim manager with a 1-1 draw against Newcastle.
The result means Lampard failed to register a single home victory during his second spell in charge, with his last win as manager at Stamford Bridge still a 3-1 triumph over West Ham in December 2020.
It took a Kieran Trippier own goal, the defender deflecting the ball into the net midway through the first half, to cancel out Anthony Gordon’s early strike.
This was at least an improved performance from Chelsea, particularly in the second half where they played with an attacking initiative rarely seen under Lampard.
The young trio of Noni Madueke, Lewis Hall and substitute Carey Chukwuemeka especially played with the maturity to take charge of the game and drive their team on, after a first half in which Newcastle had made Chelsea look ordinary.
That has happened too often this season, especially at home where there have been six Premier League defeats and only 20 goals scored, the same number as Bournemouth and three fewer than relegated Leicester.
Lampard said he had recognised early in his tenure that leadership and cohesion were lacking among a bloated squad, and hoped that a new manager – expected to be Mauricio Pochettino – would be able to slim down and galvanise the first-team group.
“The standards collectively have dropped,” said Lampard. “I can be honest about that now that it’s my last game, I might not see some of them that much anymore.
“The standards of the collective for a club like Chelsea have to be at the maximum or you won’t be physically competitive enough, or you won’t be able to play at a high level… high speed in a way that the Premier League demands.
“If you’re not together in the dressing room, and you’re not vocal in the dressing room, driving each other and competitive because I want your place and you want mine. Any top team has to have that.
“When I came in very quickly I could see that wasn’t there enough. Of course a very good manager will help that, but everyone has to take responsibility, players and club alike.”
Chelsea’s form has nosedived since Lampard was appointed on April 6, with problems that had been apparent under former manager Graham Potter having only been exacerbated.
Todd Boehly’s whirlwind transfer activity during his first year of ownership has produced a squad of 34 first-team players that both managers have said proved hugely challenging to work with.
It has contributed to Chelsea recording a first bottom-half finish since 1996 and a record low tally of points and goals scored in the Premier League era.
“It’s clear there are things I would see that need to improve,” said Lampard. “A new manager will see with his own eyes and the beauty of it is he’ll have a pre-season to work with the team, they need that.
“We’re not physically competitive enough. Newcastle are and we haven’t been. That’s a strong opinion that I have.
“The squad has been too big, that’s the biggest challenge I’ve found day to day, coming in and working with big numbers, and with players who for whatever reason are disillusioned, whether for right or wrong that they’re not playing, (or) they might be leaving. Those situations can maybe be sorted out now and they have to be.”
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, whose team had already secured qualification for next season’s Champions League ahead of the game at Stamford Bridge, said a first season in 20 years in Europe’s top competition would help loosen the transfer restrictions placed on his club by Financial Fair Play rules.
“FFP will impact what we do this summer,” he said. “Without Champions League football it would have been difficult to do much in the market at all. The fact we have that has given us a bit of a lift.
“The most important people are the players we already have. I’m the type of manager who tries to get the best out of everyone under our employment. We’re looking to add quality, we’re not huge payers of wages in the Premier League, it makes it hard to attract the very best players.
“We need more depth. With three games in a week next year we’re going to be stretched.”
Erik ten Hag backs Man Utd to win FA Cup and end neighbours City’s treble charge
Erik ten Hag told the raucous Old Trafford faithful that Manchester United have a “really good chance” of winning the FA Cup and ending Manchester City’s treble charge.
Having wrapped up Champions League qualification by beating Chelsea on Thursday, the Red Devils sealed third spot in the Premier League on the final day of the campaign.
United bounced back from Kenny Tete’s early header as David De Gea saved Aleksandar Mitrovic’s penalty before Jadon Sancho and Bruno Fernandes sealed a 2-1 comeback win against Fulham.
The players were given a fantastic reception at full-time and, after presenting De Gea with the Golden Glove trophy, boss Ten Hag made an impassioned speech to fans.
“First of all, I want to say thank you to our players,” he told the stadium. “I think they played a brilliant season.
“They are also supported by the staff. I want to say thank you to the staff.
“Secondly, I want to thank you (the fans) all. We fought really strong during the season at Old Trafford and away.
“I want to thank you for the season and your contribution backing us, for the support – it was great, so thank you.
“But there is still one game to go and I am sure that these players will give everything to beat Manchester City next week.
“If you have our back, I’m sure we have a really good chance to take the cup back to Old Trafford.”
Those comments were met by a huge roar that will increase further still if Ten Hag’s men can beat City at Wembley next Saturday and add the FA Cup to February’s Carabao Cup success.
“You have always a chance in football,” Ten Hag said in the post-match press conference.
“The history shows we beat them in January but I think Man United in the last couple of years beat City many times.
“So, these players know when they play at their levels that they can compete.
“It’s obvious we play against probably – at this moment – the best team, but still there is a chance and we have to go for the chance and we have to give everything.
“We can’t be after the game finding excuses for ourselves. I’m sure we will play a good game on Saturday.”
Ten Hag knows United have to step up after making a sloppy start against Fulham, saying De Gea’s penalty save woke them up.
The United boss again reiterated that he expected the long-serving Spain goalkeeper to extend his contract beyond the end of the season, before seemingly taking a dig at the owners’ backing.
Fans called for the Glazers to leave throughout – as they always do – and Ten Hag said he did not get investment like their top-four rivals in January.
The United boss, who was only able to make loan moves for Jack Butland, Wout Weghorst and Marcel Sabitzer, said: “The club knows if you want to play top four, compete for trophies in this tough league, then you have to invest.
“Otherwise you don’t have a chance because other clubs will do.
“We have seen it in the winter that all the clubs around us made huge investments. We didn’t and still we made it, so I’m really happy and proud of my team.”
As for Fulham, they displayed heart at Old Trafford at the end of an impressive season that saw them finish 10th after promotion from the Championship.
Head coach Marco Silva said: “We had very good moments during the game.
“Unfortunately for us, not really consistent during all the match but the way we started we were beginning to control the game.
“We were leading the score and I think it was well deserved because we showed the composure and quality to play, to control most of the moments.
“Of course we had the chance to make it 2-0 and give us even more confidence and create a much-more difficult score for them.
“De Gea saved and of course it was a moment that boosted them. You could feel is straight away in the stadium.
“These are the moments we have to show our maturity, to show more consistency.”
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