Pre-season saw two senior players leave, Ilkay Gundogan moved to Barcelona as a free agent, and after his infamous rape and assault court cases Benjamin Mendy’s contract was not renewed.
Yangel Herrera moved to Girona for £5M after being on loan at several clubs since his £900k move to City in January 2017.
Liam Delap joined Hull on a season long loan.
The Academy showed it’s worth as young keeper James Trafford was sold to Burnley for £15M plus £4M add-ons having never played for City’s senior side, also Shea Charles was sold to Southampton for £10.5M plus £4.5M add-ons, after playing less than an hour in the Premier League.
Mateo Kovacic was Pep’s first major signing of the season, the 29 year old Croatian midfielder joining from Chelsea for a fee of £29M
City’s pre-season started with a tour of Japan as they beat Yokohama F. Marinos 5-3 followed by a 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich.
Riyad Mahrez couldn’t resist the lure of the Saudi ‘Gravy Train’ as he joined Saudi Pro League club Al Ahli for a transfer fee of £30M
The last match of the tour was played in a rain soaked World Cup Stadium in Seoul, City lost 2-1 to Atletico Madrid.
As the team returned to England the second major signing of the season was announced. Croatian defender Josko Gvardiol joining from RB Leipzig for £77M.
City failed to win the Community Shield again as they lost on penalties to Arsenal after a 1-1 full-time draw.
The Blues kicked off the season at Burnley on a Friday night, and easily beat the Clarets 3-0, with Erling Haaland scoring a brace as he did in the first game of last season, however, the bad news was that Kevin De Bruyne left the field after 22 minutes with a serious hamstring injury, which could mean four months on the sidelines
The Blues made their first ever appearance in the UEFA Super Cup, and without unfit De Bruyne, Bernado Silva, John Stones and Ruben Dias, it was going to be a tough Final against Sevilla in Athens. however City battled through to draw 1-1 after 90 minutes and then claim victory, winning 5-4 on penalties.
Back in the League and Pep’s men made it a record making 17th home win on the trot, beating Title contenders Newcastle United 1-0.
The next week saw players in and out at The Etihad, Aymeric Laporte moved to South Arabian side Al Nassr for a fee of £23.5M, then City paid Stade Rennais £55.5M for the exciting 21 year old Belgian winger Jeremy Doku.
Maximo Perrone also joined Spanish La Liga side UD Las Palmas on a season long loan.
City would be without Pep on the touchline for the next two matches, he was back in Spain having surgery on a back problem. Assistant coach, Juanma Lillo would be the man in charge, but with Pep constantly on call if needed.
A tricky away match at Sheffield United ended in a 2-1 victory for the Blues.
More awards were on there way for Erling Haaland as he won the PFA Player of the Year and UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Trophy’s in addition Pep won The UEFA Men’s Coach of the Year award.
It was a very busy end to the transfer window as Matheus Nunes joined City for £53M, however leaving on a permanent deal, Cole Palmer signed for Chelsea for £42.5M.
Four more players left on season long loans; Taylor Harwood-Bellis to Southampton, Tommy Doyle to Wolves, James McAtee to Sheffield United and Joao Cancelo to Barcelona.
A first hat-trick of the season for Erling Haaland saw Fulham beaten 5-1 at the Etihad and as the season moved into the first international break City sat proud at the top of the League with four wins out of four, and Haaland already scoring six goals.