It was at the Etihad Stadium less than seven weeks ago that Manchester City’s hierarchy were busy outlining their short and longer-term vision of life with Pep Guardiola at the helm.

One message was clear: it would not be a summer of wholesale change under their incoming head coach, rather a case of finessing and fine-tuning in the transfer market. Evolution over revolution, if you will.

Yes, there was a recognition that the squad needed surgery in a couple of areas and that some signings had not worked out, but there was still a strongly-held belief that Guardiola would inherit a “very good” group of players from Manuel Pellegrini.