The pursuit of Guardiola has shaped what City have become in the modern era. The club has a long-term plan for life beyond him, and the City Football Academy, they hope, will put them a generation ahead of rivals like Manchester United and Arsenal who were the innovators at the turn of the millennium.

But even so Guardiola’s arrival is anticipated as the major epoch in City’s history and one upon which so many resources have been focused.

In the modern era it is no simple task to land the top managers of the day and a bad appointment can affect a club for years. There are only a few who can achieve what City aspire to and really only one who they believe in as much as they believe in Guardiola. It is why they went all out to get him, and even in the case of Girona and his brother Pere, deployed every resource they could.

Chelsea outcast Djilobodji shows he may be better than first thought

Strange but true: since the winter break ended in the Bundesliga, a new centre-back at Werder Bremen on loan from the Premier League has played every minute of both their games: a good away win 3-1 at fifth-placed Schalke and a draw at home, 3-3, with third-placed Hertha Berlin. Not bad for Bremen who are two places off the bottom of the 18-team league. And this new player? Only the much lamented Papy Djilobodji of Chelsea.