So…Pep Guardiola, it’s not as easy as you first thought, is it? Things didn’t quite pan out for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City last season, they finished 3rd in the Premier League, 15 points behind the champions, Chelsea. Man City also crashed out of the Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup but our draft teams don’t get points for those competitions so we’ll skip past that. There is a lot more to be positive about for the blue half of Manchester this season, all positions are being strengthened with a lot of the old guard being moved on.

Goalkeepers

Speaking of the old guard moving on, Joe Hart looks to have sealed a loan move to West Ham, so I’ll cover when to draft him in the upcoming West Ham piece. Willy Caballero also has moved to Chelsea while Claudio Bravo looks to not be up to the standards required for Pep for his goalkeepers, which brings us to, Ederson Moraes.

Ederson signed for £35mil (a Premier League record for a goalkeeper) and will be the number 1 for Man City this season. He’s unproven in the league but for that fee, you’d expect big things from him. Ederson, with a much-strengthened defence in front of him should offer us a very good first pick for a goalkeeper. It’s hard to predict when people will pull the trigger on getting a goalkeeper but if Ederson doesn’t go quick then people aren’t drafting right.

Man City look to be adding another new keeper in the form of former Liverpool number 1, Pepe Reina. I always liked Reina and he’s had a good few seasons playing for Napoli but unless there’s injuries, he won’t be worth using a draft pick up on.

Defenders

I mentioned a much-strengthened defence for Man City and the ambition for that is definitely there. Kyle Walker’s move to Man City saw him become the world’s most expensive defender, not bad for the the highest scoring defender of last season. Walker will bring points and he should be high up, if not, one of the first defenders that you look to bring in. The same can be said for the rumoured future signing of Benjamin Mendy.

With no new centre back currently signed, it’s fair to say that Man City could be looking to line up with a John Stones and Vincent Kompany partnership. It’s fair to say that John Stones didn’t have the greatest of seasons and Kompany’s calf muscle may go at any time, I honestly thought Kompany was going to just retire last season.

If he remains fit, Kompany is a great first pick up for a defender and if his form improves, the same could be said for Stones. If not, it wouldn’t be a bad option to pick up Otamendi but rumours also surround his future.

Go in early for Walker and Mendy (providing he’s signed by the time you draft) as they’ll be gone soon enough.

Midfielders

I’m going to start here with a player who I’d briefly forgotten had signed for Man City as the deal was done a couple months ago. Bernardo Silva should be a really exciting player to watch this season, with luck, he’ll offer us draft manager’s plenty of goals and assists this season. I can even see Bernardo Silva going as a first pick overall, he certainly won’t be available after round 2. Another player that can be said about is Kevin De Bruyne. I wanted De Bruyne as my first pick last season but ending up being the 7th pick out of 10 which gave me no hope of that happening.

David Silva, Leroy Sané & Raheem Sterling may suffer from rotation a little in the league but I see all 3 being picked up fairly quickly, I expect then to be picked up no later than the 5th round. Out of the 3 though, I’d go in for Leroy Sané first, he became a mainstay towards the end of last season and he built up some nice points (I should say, I ended up with him).

İlkay Gündoğan will be out until the new year but there seems to be another year left in Yaya Toure and expect him to find a home in someone’s draft fantasy team. Yaya may just be around near the later rounds still.

Overall though, Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne must be first round picks, they’re going to be two of the top scoring midfielders this season.

Forwards

Wilfried Bony and Kelechi Iheanacho do look to be leaving this summer, which to us managers could be great news. If they go to other Premier League clubs then that’s some potential quality 2nd strikers for us available (working on the fact that Bony at Stoke City was just a blip) but let’s get to the big guns.

Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus are sure fire first round picks, I’m even predicting that Gabriel Jesus is the number 1 pick in most draft leagues this season.

Last season I gambled 3 weeks before Gabriel Jesus was officially available to play for Man City and I sat on him for those 3 weeks hoping that he’d come good for me and be the star striker my team desperately needed. My gamble paid off…for about 4 weeks. Gabriel Jesus’ injury probably cost Man City a more comfortable run into the top 4 and definitely cost me my grip on the top of our league. This season though, if he stays fit, expect him to be the highest scoring striker.

Not far behind him in that list come the end of the season will be Sergio Aguero (honestly, I do believe Jesus will have a better year than Aguero). Rumours do persist of Aguero leaving but I strongly doubt that will happen. Aguero has been gold for draft managers and will be again.

Wildcard

How do you pick a wildcard in a team of superstars? This is going to sound strange, but I’m giving the wildcard pick to Vincent Kompany. Kompany is a great defender but his injuries are never far behind him. It’s certainly worth thinking about that when it comes to drafting him. Kompany is high risk but high reward, that’s why he’s my wildcard pick.

Conclusion

We’re all going to be looking at Man City players early. Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus could all easily go in round 1 while David Silva, Leroy Sané, Raheem Sterling, Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy will be gone by round 3…maybe 4 at a push while Eduardo will also be one of the first keepers picked up.