This City side is unlike any other that we have seen under Mansour. All the others were built largely in the transfer market whereby City would bring in top class proven stars such as Stones, Walker, Aguero, Yaya, Tevez etc.
In recent windows, the type of player we have brought in was different. We have bought younger players who were the best in their age-group e.g., Echeverri, and Khusanov. In the Summer, before the Club World Cup, we bought Reijnders, and Cherki who were a little more experienced but definitely young and talented players who were up and coming rather than established players. In parallel with this, we also have young players like O'Reilly, Rico and Bobb coming through from the academy. This gives the current City side a young and developmental feel.
I think buying Donnarumma in the last days of the window was hugely important to add quality and leadership to the squad because if you have a very young side, they might miss out on confident players.
I was watching Wales v Belgium last night and the star man for Belgium was Doku. I think many City fans will agree that Doku has taken a step forward this season. He is making better decisions in games. For City to be successful this season, I think we need to another player to emerge. There are quite a few who might. They include Cherki, Bobb, Reijnders, Marmoush, Khusanov, Savinho. We might even add Echeverri if he is recalled from his loan in January.
I feel better about our squad this season compared to last. I felt that during the CL campaign in the Autumn, we didn't have enough left in the tank to compete in the Premier League games. Was it a coincidence that we picked up in the league after we were KO'd from the Champions League? Similarly, we couldn't compete in the League Cup. Liverpool and Arsenal are mature sides who have strength in depth. We are not there yet but we are getting there.
I don't know whether the developmental feel to City is deliberate or not. It could be that City simply failed in the transfer market to buy the players we wanted e.g., Wirtz, and it also might reflect some measure of panic (January) when the only players available were very young players. Whatever the reason, we are watching a City side that is largely young and a work in progress rather than the finished product. This is new post-takeover. That's partly why I am looking ahead, hoping for emerging players to come forward.